The King and his Son
by Fire Inu Princess
Summary: This is my crossover with Naruto and Lion King, but in modern times.
1. Plans

_I don't even know why I'm writing this, all I know is that my wife thought that it would be a good story to tell… Where to start? Ah yes, I guess from the beginning would be good. Well, I come from a wealthy family, but we were also very happy. My father, Minato owned a big company; I guess you can call it like an organization for managers to sign up singers._

_My father had built the building from scratch thanks to the help from my mother, Kushina, and his business partner and friend Hiashi Hyuuga and his other friend Orochimaru._

_Minato wanted much for this company, though to him, the company wasn't just a place to earn money, to get more clients… but we were a family. It was almost like a pack of lions, he was the king, my mother was his queen, and I was the crowned prince that was to inherit everything. And as for the company, all the workers were like our pride… But, sadly this isn't a warm and fuzzy story for every life, has a darkness that tries to take something from us… This, is my story._

It was late in the evening, the sounds of nurses shoes clicking on the hard floor echoed through the hospital. A blonde haired man was sitting in the waiting room as he rocked a little baby boy in his arms. The baby had small turfs of blonde hair, much his own. When the baby opened his eyes, his eyes revealed to be ocean blue.

The man was here to support his friend while his wife was going through labor.

"Minato, do you think… Hana will be alright?" asked the man as he sat down next to the blonde haired man. He had long dark brown hair pulled back in a low ponytail, his eyes lavender and his skin tan. He wore a simple business suit, showing that he had been working before getting the call of his wife being sent to the hospital due to going into labor.

Minato grinned widely as he said "she will Hiashi. She's tough. You just have to have faith, that's why God gave this job to women." He shifted his son in his arms and gently patted the man's back hoping that would comfort him. Hiashi gave a small smile and sighed softly as he laid back in his seat.

"How's he doing Minato?" asked a woman's voice. Minato looked up and gave a soft smile. The woman had long beautiful red hair and loving brown eyes. She had flawless skin, like she never had a break out once in her life. And Minato was lucky enough to have this woman as his wife. She wore a simple yellow shirt with brown dress overalls. It was a simple outfit, but to him he's never seen a more beautiful woman.

Looking down at his son, he whispered "he's doing alright. Just nervous. Like how I was when you were giving birth to Naruto. He might listen to you Kushina." Kushina smiled a little bit, though he knew why she was upset. It was about what they had to do for Naruto when he was born. Minato still had to talk to his teacher about something important later…

Turning to his friend, Minato smiled as he said "Hiashi… remember that agreement we had when we first started the company?"

"Yeah, made a bet that if one of us had a son and the other had a daughter that we'd have an arranged marriage for them. Why?"

"I'm thinking we go through with it. Ya know, to keep the company strong, since it did take the both of us to build this company."

Hiashi seemed quite, Minato didn't think he would go for it. It made Minato wonder if he would go through with it. Though, it did make sense, since it did take the both of them to make this company, why not have their kids get married? In a sense it would be like a merger even if it wasn't two separate companies. Suddenly, Hiashi nodded as he said "deal. But, if they don't love each other then we cannot force it."

"Agreed."

Minato smiled a bit, if the kids didn't love each other than the wedding will be cancelled. He wasn't going to force them to marry if there was no love in it. Sighing softly, Minato leaned back into his chair as he waited for the nurse to come out to let them know if Hana had the baby. Just thinking about this made him remember when Kushina was having Naruto…

She was screaming, crying and cursing him for doing that to her, not that he couldn't blame Kushina. Though, it was worth just to have Naruto in their lives. Sadly, they had to take drastic measure to save their son… It was horrible that they had to do that to him… Looking down at the now sleeping baby boy in his arms, Minato wondered if he would have a wonderful life.

Kissing Naruto's forehead, he gave his son a tender smile; maybe it would be possible for his son to have a wonderful life so long as it was full of love and joy. If he falls for Hiashi's daughter… than maybe Naruto's life will be full of happiness. That was all they could ever hope for their child. Turning his head, a nurse came out of the doors of the delivery room with a bright smile on her face. "Mr. Hyuuga, would you like to hold your baby daughter?"

Hiashi's eyes were wide though he smiled before pushing himself up from his seat and followed the nurse to the delivery room.

Minato knew that that would be a sweet and tender moment for Hiashi and his wife. Minato pushed himself up and stared at Kushina for a moment. "Can you take Naruto for a moment; I have to return a call for a moment." He kissed his wife quickly before she took their son into her arms. Minato started to walk out of the hospital, wondering if his teacher had managed to get that key ready. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that his son would need it when he was older.

It was just a strange feeling of dread.

Once he was outside of the hospital, Minato reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his cell phone and dialed his teacher's number. The phone just rang… and rang… and rang. He figured that the only reason why he didn't pick it up was that he was writing again, he was doing his 'research' as he so calls it. "Hello?" came a tired reply. Or, he was asleep since it was one in the morning.

"Hey Jiraiya, I was wondering if you had that key I had asked made for me."

"Hm… yeah, I have it ready. But Minato, what makes you think that your son is going to need it? He's only two months old." Said the tired man.

"I know that, but it's just a feeling I have. Besides, it's started from the moment Naruto was born. Everyone from the company came to see how me and Kushina were… Everyone wanted to see the heir to my company but only one person didn't show."

"Orochimaru?"

"Yeah… he was to take the company if me and Kushina, Hiashi and his wife weren't able to have kids. It was part of the agreement. I think he's angry about me having a son." He listened to what his teacher was going to say. Though, Minato had a feeling that he wasn't going to like the answer. But, what could the answer be then? There was no way that it could be anything good.

"I can't say why he didn't show. Maybe he couldn't make it, maybe something came up. It was hard to say. Until you're sure he can be trusted just pretend that you aren't up to something. Just until then." Minato knew that was the best thing they could do. Was just to sit around and play the waiting game. Sighing softly, Minato thanked Jiraiya before hanging up and went back inside.

As he walked, he thought about what Jiraiya had said. Maybe it was for the best that he pretended that nothing was wrong. But, he couldn't help it. The feeling that something will happen in the future kept on nagging him in the back of his mind. Was there something that was going to bring great harm to his son? Narrowing his eyes, Minato was going to do what he could to make sure that Naruto stayed safe.

But, it sounded much harder than it sounded.

When he walked into the room, he saw Hiashi with a little bundle in his arms, showing Kushina and Naruto. He figured that was Hiashi's daughter. "So, what's the little cuties name?" asked Minato.

Hiashi looked up and gave a proud smile as he said "Hinata…" Minato smiled and walked over to his friend and looked down at the little girl. She was sound asleep… though; he knew that she had lavender coloured eyes like her father… everyone in their family got the same coloured eyes. He could also make out a small patch of blue hair…

"She'll be a beauty like her mother." Said Minato with a big smile.

"Yeah… And, your son has taken a liking to her. Look."

When Minato turned his head, he saw that Naruto was staring at Hinata, his blue eyes wide and curious. He held out his little hand out toward her like he wanted to play. Minato chuckled, he could tell that those two will be very good friends, that's for sure.


	2. Friends Forever

_The years had gone by I guess… I wasn't really paying much attention to my life. All I knew was that my life was great… my parents loved and adored me; I was great friends with Hinata Hyuuga. We were the best of friends I guess you could say. Every day, I would train in the Namikaze style of fighting, though my father would also teach me something called… jutsu? Yeah, that was it._

_I didn't really understand why he knew this… it seemed like no one else knew this. Even my mom taught me from time to time._

_Though, all I knew was that they both told me that it was to help me defend myself and those around me. They wanted me to be a good person and I can understand that. Though, I didn't think that I would ever need to use those powers or gifts or whatever they were._

_All I knew, was that some of these talents were useful for pranks._

Naruto grinned wildly, now at the age of five; his hair had grown a little though not a lot. It didn't pass his neck though his hair was just as spiky as his father's and his eyes sparkled just as much as Minato's as well. Everyone always commented on how much Naruto looked like his mother and he couldn't help but smile at that. Though, there was one person that did kinda freaked him out…

Orochimaru.

Naruto didn't know why, but the guy always seemed to have this strange presents. Like he was… well, like he was a monster. Naruto didn't know why so he kept his distance from the white skinned man as much as he could. So, when he wasn't training with his parents or spending time with Hinata, he was avoiding the snake-man.

Shaking his head, Naruto looked around the halls of the company, making sure that no one was around. Grinning, he hid in the hall of the company, knowing fully well that this prank will work thanks to that jutsu his father had taught him as a way to escape. Crossing his index fingers he said "Shadow Clone Jutsu." With that said, five clones of himself appeared in a puff of smoke.

Looking at his clones, he saw that they all looked like him. Right down to the orange shirt and blue shirts. Smiling, he said "okay guys, I need three of you to put buckets over the doors to the bathrooms and the offices to those that we think need to cheer up… me and the other clone will keep mom and dad busy. After we're done, we'll play with Hinata. Got it?"

Each clones nodded, all of them had big grins on their faces. Naruto could already tell that this prank will go well for him.

"Um… what do we fill the buckets with?"

"Surprise us."

Each clone grinned a fox-like grin before running off. Naruto kept the one clone behind so he would help distract his father from what was happening around the company. "Okay, just remember; keep him away from the offices alright? Ask him to train you." The clone nodded and went to meet Minato. Meanwhile, the original Naruto went to see his mother.

Grinning, he looked into his mother's office; she was behind a few stacks of paper as if trying to sort out something. Though, the scent alone was enough to tell Naruto what she was really doing. Grinning, Naruto crossed his fingers and a puff of smoke appeared around him. Covering him as his body shifted into his father. Naruto looked at his reflection through the window that was near him. Smiling, he walked into his mother's office as he said "Kushina, what do you think you're doing? Are you working?"

A woman stood up straight from her desk as she said "Minato I was working. Don't worry honey; I wasn't doing anything I shouldn't." Naruto smiled, he knew that his father would tease his mother about her habit of eating instead of working but it was one of the any reasons why his father loved his mom… that, and her red hair.

"Kushina… you have some ramen noodles stuck to your face." Naruto said with a snicker.

"Naruto… are you pretending to be your father again." Kushina said with her arms crossed over her chest, giving her son a disapproving stare. Naruto just nodded and in a puff of smoke he had returned to normal. Giggling, he skipped around the room, hoping that the clones were still doing their jobs. He didn't want to be around when the buckets fell.

Blinking in surprise, Naruto regained some of the memories of one of his clones. So, one clone filled a bucket of water… real original.

Shaking his head, Naruto looked up at his mother as he said "did you save some ramen for me mom?" He tilted his head to the side, giving her his adorable grin. Something his mother always fell for. Kushina just smiled at her son and handed him an already made up of ramen and handed it to him plus the chop sticks.

Grinning a big grin, Naruto started to chow right on down. As he ate, the second clone had disappeared, filling his bucket full of red powder. Well, he should say some red cool aid. Something he knew would dye someone's hair for quite a while. It made him wonder what the last clone had put in a bucket… that would be nice to know though he couldn't be a hundred percent sure.

"So Naruto, what are you going to do today before we go home?"

"Me and Hinata were going to make something… I still have time before we're to meet." He gave a big grin. Naruto wasn't really sure what Hinata had in mind for them, though what he did know was that she wanted it to be a surprise for the both of them.

Finally, his third clone disappeared… his bucket was full of tomato juice. Though, before the clone had disappeared he saw Minato coming… and that was when the final clone had disappeared. Crap! "Sorry mom gotta go!" he said as he slurped up his ramen and made a break for it. Suddenly, there were loud screams of one particular name.

"NARUTO!"

He couldn't help but laugh, for his prank had gone as according to plan! Though, sadly his father had caught him by lifting him by the collar of his shirt. Gulping, the little boy looked at the disapproving stare of his father. "Naruto… what am I to do with you… I thought you said you weren't going to prank anyone."

"Dad… I was only having some fun. What's the harm in that?"

"You're so much like your mother but one day, the pranks will go too far and you'll only hurt people." Naruto frowned and sighed. Minato set his son down and ran a hand through his spiky blonde locks. "Go and see Hinata, she was looking for you. And, avoid the people you pranked until things simmer down alright?"

Naruto smiled and started to run off as he went to meet up with Hinata. Giggling, the little boy kept on running, hoping to keep a moving, he had to make sure that he got away. Looking around, he looked around as he wondered just what could Hinata have this time… was it more treats that her mother made? Oh! Or was it another art project? There were just so many possibilities! Sighing softly, the little boy ran his hand through his hair wondering why he felt like someone was watching him…

"Hello… little Naruto."

Naruto's back went stiff as he slowly turned around and gulped when he saw the gold eyes of Orochimaru. The man was tall, slim… He looked like he couldn't handle a battle but Naruto knew that he had power. Orochimaru had long slick black hair that reached her lower back, his skin was ghostly pale like he was always sick. What scared him the most was the evil aura that seemed to cover him like a wet blanket.

"He-hello Orochimaru…" he said with a gulp.

"Why are you here by yourself Naruto? Shouldn't you be training with your father or even spending time with the Hyuuga girl?"

"Her name is Hinata."

"Still, shouldn't you be with at least one of them? Or, are you going to pull another one of your pranks?"

"Did… I did that already today… um… I… I should go." Said Naruto with a gulp, before he started to make a mad dash to get away from Orochimaru. There was no way that he was going to stay near that guy, there was just no way. Maybe if he got to Hinata he'll feel a little better. She was like a ray of sunshine to him compared to Orochimaru. When he was far enough, Naruto walked down the halls, wondering if Hinata was either in her father's office or if she was in the room that their father's made for the two of them to play in.

Blinking, he tilted his head to the side and wondered what room they would play in. Or what they could be doing. There has been so many things that they've done when they were first brought here… Laughing softly, Naruto knew that their dads have been bringing them here since they were born.

When he entered the room, he saw Hinata sitting by the table that was in the center of the room. The room was simple; the carpet was red like his mother's hair, also the colour of the Uzumaki clan, the clan his mother came from. The walls were wallpapered of birds flying into the everlasting sky. When he looked at the table, he smiled a little bit. Hinata was just as shy as ever.

Her eyes, lavender like her father's. Her hair short, though blue much like her mother's as was her appearance. Hinata always wore a blue muscle shirt though; it was always covered by a big jacket. He wasn't sure why, maybe she was cold or was comfortable hiding as much of her body as possible. Looking at the rest of her ensemble, he saw that she wore big and loose looking black pants and shoes that bit her just fine for this weather.

"Hey Hinata!" said Naruto said with a bright smile, when he saw Hinata lift her head she blushed softly and looked away. He frowned in confusion, wondering why her face was red. Did she have a fever? Tilting his head to the side, he shrugged before walking to the table and sat next to the young woman. "So, what did you have in mind for us to do today?"

Hinata blushed softly as she said "I… I was thinking we… we make… make something for each other…" Naruto smiled, though he never did understand why Hinata was so shy… But, he just thought it was because she didn't have a lot of confidence at all… though he found it a little cute on her to be so shy. Cute like a little baby kitten. Smiling, he pushed himself up onto the chair and smiled at Hinata happily before he started to get to work. He took one of the small paint brushes and a little white circle that could be used to have any design on it. Smiling, Naruto thought that maybe he could paint his mother's symbol on it.

As he worked on it, Naruto wondered why Orochimaru gave him that strange smile… sure, he's seen a few smiles from the pale skinned man but… the way he smiled was like he had some kind of plan… Shaking his head, the little boy grabbed a black string and looped it through the symbol's metal ring and smiled as he made it into a necklace.

When he stared at the symbol, he saw that it was just a normal circle though with a ling swirling down from the side and started to swirl inward, it almost looked like a whirlpool of red. Tilting his head, Naruto looked over to Hinata wondering what she was making.

Her necklace looked almost like his but with a different symbol on it. The background of the pendent was yellow like the sun. And in the center was a strange red flame with a small swirl in the center. He remembered Hinata saying that it was the symbol of the Hyuuga Clan. Smiling at her, he asked "so, what made you do your clan symbol?"

"I… I wanted to make this…" she said with a small smile.

Naruto grinned as he said "okay…" When he looked at the necklace in his hand, he frowned as he wondered what to do. Smiling softly, he held it out to Hinata as he said "here… this can be a symbol of our friendship." Hinata blushed a little more though smiled, and handed Naruto her necklace after she had stringed the neck tie through the metal ring. They exchanged necklaces and both had bright smiles on their faces.

"These necklaces shall always be a symbol of our friendship; so long as we wear these… our friendship shall never break." Naruto declared his smile bright as ever.

Hinata nodded and smiled as she said "okay Naruto… we'll… we'll be friends forever and ever."


	3. Song

_I was seven when I wrote my first song… I wasn't sure if it was any good but, I guess you could say it was my heart's song. Kinda like with some of those tuxedo birds… uh, what were they called again? Oh yeah, penguins…. For this song may not have a meaning now, but it will later on in my life. It also reminds me of the story my mom told me about when she was younger, how she met my father._

_She said something about her hair, how she used to hate her crimson hair until my father saved her… her hair, had become the red thread to her soul mate._

_I wasn't sure if that story was true, least at the time I wasn't. But I know that true love is something that cannot be fought no matter how old you are… true love, is something that can never be taken away from people, and I could easily see that when I looked at my parents. Their love, was ever lasting, just like my friendship with Hinata._

Naruto couldn't believe it, he was finally seven! Grinning like a fool, he went to his personal music room with Hinata; they had decided to try to write a song. Naruto had always had a strange gift for music, Minato had thought that it was because with them working for a music company so to speak, that Naruto had picked up on it and developed a gift for it.

Grinning all the more, the little boy grabbed some paper and a pencil, wondering how he was going to write this song. Frowning, he sat down and waited for Hinata to come in… so much has come by in his young life. He had still learned how to fight and use jutsu and taijutsu. It made him wonder though what could be the real reason for all of this strange training? None of this was making sense… sure when he was five it was fun and games but now… it just seemed so annoying.

Running a hand through his hair, Naruto wondered when Hinata was going to get here… Maybe her father needed her for something? Shaking his head, he knew that Hiashi didn't want Hinata to do much while at the company. After all, they were just kids.

_'Maybe I could write at least one line to the song…'_

Naruto sighed softly, reaching into his shirt he pulled out the necklace that Hinata made for him two years ago. It was an old necklace and the string was starting to wear down. Frowning, he didn't want to lose such a big part of their friendship. They had made a promise; so long as they wore these their friendship would be everlasting. Looking around the room, Naruto wondered if maybe he could use a chain or something. Maybe if he was lucky there was a chain in here at the very least. Frowning, Naruto kept on searching the room for a chain though it seemed like there would be no hope for it in the least.

"Looking for a chain Naruto?" said a voice from the doorway, a voice that sent chills up Naruto's spine. Gulping, he slowly turned around and saw Orochimaru standing in the doorway, a grin on his face. Sure, to others it would look like he was being friendly but to Naruto… it was sinister… All Naruto could do was nod to what Orochimaru was saying. But, how did he know that he was looking for a chain in the first place? "Here you go Naruto. I'm sure it'll come in handy." Said the paled skinned man as he handed Naruto a gold chain.

Giving him a dirty stare, Naruto slowly took the chain from Orochimaru and removed his own necklace, removing the string and replacing it with the gold chain. Though, he still didn't trust Orochimaru in the least, the guy was like a snake, and snakes couldn't be trusted in the least. "Thanks for the chain Orochimaru." Said Naruto as he was placing the necklace around his neck, least the chain wasn't too small for him… he would have hated it if it was too tight around his throat.

Orochimaru just smirked as he said "no problem Naruto, I'm happy to help out my friend's son." With that said and done, the snake man left. Leaving Naruto to be alone for the time being. No matter what, that guy was just plain creepy.

Taking a deep breath, he went back on his chair and wrote down at least one line to the song… it had him confused though, he's never written his own song before, so this was going to be so new to him. Looking down at the paper, he mumbled "what rhymes with 'white'?"

"How about 'flight'?"

Yelping, Naruto stumbled back in his hair and fell over. "Naru-kun!" shouted Hinata as she walked into the room, rushing to Naruto's side. Groaning, Naruto got himself up onto his feet again and stared at Hinata… she had grown a bit in two years. Her hair was a little longer, he wasn't sure why but Hinata had said that she wanted to grow it out… "Are you okay Naru-kun?" asked Hinata, her voice soft but laced with worry and concern.

"Yeah, you just surprised me Hina-chan."

When they had turned six, Naruto and Hinata had thought to shorten the others name; to them it was yet another sign of their friendship. At first, Naruto hated being called 'Naru-kun' but after a while… Naruto had grown to like being called that. He never, let anyone else call him that but Hinata. After stretching a bit, Naruto put his chair back up and sat back down, as did Hinata as she took a seat next to him.

"So, how far did you get on the song Naru-kun?" asked Hinata with her soft voice.

"Just got one line down… though, I did like the rhyme you came up with." Naruto said with a smile as he started to write down yet another line. Hinata pointed out one line that would help with the song, and after that, Naruto had come up with another… and another….

It was as if they were working together to get this song to get done. Meanwhile, someone was watching them through the door. A soft and warm smile on his lips. Minato was staring at his son as he wrote a song with Hinata, thinking that it was so adorable, that they would make the perfect couple when they're older. Though, they didn't know about the arranged marriage, maybe it's best not to tell them until they were older… old enough to fully understand.

Naruto and Hinata had finished the first part of the song… it was so easy to write a song when you have someone to write it with. He couldn't help but smile… Naruto wasn't sure why but it almost seemed like Hinata was his inspiration… but why?

Shaking his head, the young man looked back at the paper and tried to think on what could be done for the time being… "What rhymes with sun?" asked Naruto as he stared at Hinata with confusion in his eyes.

"One?"

Naruto thought about it for a second… yeah, that could work. Smiling, he started to write down the lines that would work… Grinning his big grin, Naruto turned to Hinata as he said "you're so smart Hinata. At this rate we'll have this done in no time!" Though, when he got a better look at Hinata, he noticed that she was blushing softly. "Hey, you okay? Are you sick?" He went to feel her forehead, though Hinata just scooted away from him.

Sighing, Naruto ran a hand through his hair… she does this every time he gives her a compliment… did she hate that or was she just that shy? It didn't make sense to him though then again… he doesn't really understand girls all that much.

"C-Can we… we just go back to working on the song Naru-kun?" stuttered Hinata as she looked away from him. Her stutter was cute but it had him worried that she had a speech problem. Though, he didn't comment on it, thinking that if he did that he would make her cry. She always was a bit of a sensitive girl though; he'd do anything to keep her safe, to keep her smiling.

Turning back to the paper, Naruto thought about another line to write for the song… he knew that he would have to keep this song going… this song would be something that would only be between him, and Hinata… nothing would ever take that away from him or Hinata that was for sure.

For ten more minutes, Naruto and Hinata were coming up with amazing lines and rhymes for this song. Chuckling, Naruto pulled up the paper and looked over the song. He liked it, tilting his head to the side, the young boy held it out to Hinata wondering if she liked it or not. There was just so much that Naruto wondered if there was anything wrong with it. Hinata smiled and just nodded a sure sign that she loved the song the way it was.

Now, Naruto wanted to test it out. Grinning all the more, he got up and went to his keyboard and tried to find the right tune for it. Frowning, he had pressed a few buttons, though none of them seemed to work for the song. Crossing his arms, Naruto had narrowed it down to a few sounds that could work for the song. Hinata picked the one that was mixed in with the piano, guitar, drums and base.

Frowning, Naruto clicked on that one again and listened carefully… it started out soft, then went with the other instruments… she had a point it was good.

Getting up, Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and pulled her to stand on the floor with him. Her face was bright red though; he knew that it was normal for her… She wasn't used to a boy holding her hand. But, the more he thought about it the more he remembered that she only got red faced when he would grab her hand. Once they were comfortable on the floor, Naruto pressed play on the keyboard and listened as the music started to play.

_"Darkness of white  
You can through the sadness take your flight  
And become the wings  
That pierce the veil  
Spreading strong and true tonight."_

Both Naruto and Hinata both sang with soft voices. Naruto grinned at Hinata, thinking that she had a beautiful singing voice. Though, he thought about keeping that to himself… Knowing that if he said anything like that than she'd fall over out cold… again. Though, he blushed softly at the sound of Hinata's voice… it was so heavenly.

_"Brought into the light at last  
By the cold exposing sun.  
I was granted freedom tamed  
To become the chosen one.  
Through the mirror,  
Night reflected;  
Miraculous to see!  
My soul threw away the mask  
That hides the deeper me.  
Breaking the dark of night,  
Piercing through the painted white.  
Cut it all away  
From yesterday  
'Til an new era's in sight.  
Unlock the heart within,  
Let it spread its wings and soar.  
Rising up in flight  
Through the night of white  
And fly on forever more!"_

The song was perfect. Taking a deep breath, Naruto smiled at Hinata, thinking that maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. There was just so much that he wanted to do. There were so many memories that he wanted to make, happy ones before he is given this company. Grinning like a fool, Naruto calmly said "Hinata, when I get this company from my dad… I want you to be my partner. What do you think?" asked Naruto as he stared at a crimsoned face Hinata. "Uh… Hinata? Hina-chan?"

Before he knew it, Hinata had fallen over out cold. "Ah! Hinata!"

"Dad, why do I train?" asked Naruto, after Hinata had fainted, her father came in and told Naruto that his father wanted to speak to him about something. Only to find out that they were increasing his training difficulty. Oh how fun is that?

Running a hand through his hair, Minato stared at his son as he said "Naruto, all men of the Namikaze family have trained for hundreds of years. Since the time and era of ninjas. I'm training you, as my father had trained me, and his father trained him. But, this is also to keep you safe. I don't want to lose you, your mother or anyone for that matter." Naruto just frowned at his father, how was it that his father was able to say something that sounded so cool yet so boring?

"Dad, the only thing I want in life is to inherit the company after you retire. I'm going to make this company better than ever! This company will be the best thing ever! I'll make sure of that! Believe it!" Declared Naruto, his eyes burning with a fire that Minato had thought had disappeared so many years ago… he hadn't heard of this being in his family, not since the era of ninjas at least. Though… there was one problem…

"Naruto, you are to inherit the company yes, but… you don't see the company as I do. You have the Will of Fire, something that has been long since forgotten but… even that isn't enough to show you what it means to own this company."

"But dad! I know what it means to own a company!"

"Then what is it Naruto. Tell your father what the meaning of a company is?"

Naruto grinned as he said "to get as much business as possible to earn a lot of money." That was what he thought, though, it was what any child would think for a company such as this to be. Minato knew that but… he had hoped that his son would have known the true meaning of owning a company… Sadly, that doesn't seem like the case.

Shaking his head, Minato rose from his chair as he said "no Naruto… that isn't the meaning of owning a company. Least not my company. You still have so much to learn Naruto… I'll teach you what I can tomorrow… but for now, you'll be watched by Kakashi."

"What? But dad Kakashi is a weirdo! He always has his nose buried in that stupid book of his!" shouted Naruto; he was not pleased by this in the least.

"That is enough Naruto. Kakashi is to watch over you when me and your mother are busy. That is the end of this. You may leave Naruto." Said Minato with a glare of his blue eyes. Naruto narrowed his own eyes at his father before he started to walk away. He couldn't believe that he was stuck with Kakashi… how can life get any worse for him?


	4. Treasure and Scar

_Pain was something that I wasn't used too. Well, unless you counted the pain I would get from training with my father. Or even running away from people I've pranked until my legs were sore and begging for me to stop. Okay, maybe I do know something about pain… Though, nothing compares to the pain I started to feel today… _

_I felt pain when I got a scar, something that would forever be on my skin… I could easily get surgery to have the scar removed but… I won't._

_This scar that I have is a constant reminder of what I did. Of what I failed to do, of what could have happened still haunts me. Even to this day it will forever haunt my dreams. The thought of what could have happened it still makes my blood freeze in my veins at the very thought._

Naruto was having a horrible day. First, when he first woke up he was so very excited to get a full tour of the company. Though, least until he remembered that he pretty much knew everything about this place since he was brought here all the time. Then, Kakashi had arrived to tell his father that there were some problems with a signing contract for one of the bands that they were trying to sign up. Though, it seemed to have given Naruto some time to think.

His father had showed him pretty much everything that had happened since the company had been built. At least, the remake of the building. He had learned that there had been another building just across from this building. At first, Naruto had thought that it was just an old building that had been there before the creating of the Namikaze Corporation. Though, turned out that it was the original building. It had been there for a very long time, and never had the chance to be torn down yet.

His dad said that someone had even died in there. Though, it hadn't been proved really… Shaking his head, Naruto looked out the window and saw the remains of the building from the rooftop of the company. It had holes within its walls, broken windows. He could even make out the wires hanging from the ceiling and the lights just barely hanging onto those. It was hard to believe that such a building like that was there… and still standing after all these years. Though, he wasn't sure if it was really worth standing so close to the building…

_'Maybe when I get the company I could get that torn down…'_ thought Naruto to himself with a shake of his head. Though, he did wonder why that building still stood… maybe there was something in the building still? Frowning, Naruto knew that he wanted to go in there but… what his father had told him told him that he should listen.

_"Naruto, you shouldn't go in there. I lost a good worker in that building years ago, before you were even born… I don't want to lose you alright? You could get electrocuted or worse… Alright?"_

Sighing softly, Naruto scratched the back of his head as he tried to think of any other reason to sneak on into the building. His curiosity was bugging him, telling him that it was okay to just have a little peek into the building. What would the harm be? Though, he knew that he had to stay out of trouble if he was to ever have Kakashi away from him at some point.

"What is the matter Naruto." Said a voice, causing Naruto to turn around in shock. Standing there was Orochimaru; damn that guy was really like a ghost or something! Naruto took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before he turned his head away. What was he to say to this guy without sounding afraid of him? There was no way that he could trust this guy right? The feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that much in the very least.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto turned away from Orochimaru as he said "just thinking… wondering about that building that dad never tore down." It did confuse him greatly, why keep a building if there is nothing there in the first place? Frowning, there was so many things that went through his mind as to why the building was there though to him none of it made sense to him in the least.

Orochimaru smirked as he said "from what I heard, there was a treasure in that building. That's why your father never tore it down. They're trying to find the treasure that the man left in there before his death. He had gone back to get it but… well, never made it out alive of course." The way he said that, it sent chills down Naruto's spine. Chills of excitement of there being treasure, but also chills of the way he said it, like he was planning something.

Though, with his child-like mind Naruto ignored the second part of the chill and focused more on the first one.

"Treasure?" said the little boy in confusion, wondering just what could be in the building that would have made the poor man go back. There was no way that he would go back for nothing if it meant that he would easily lose his life. It did have Naruto curious as to what this treasure could be…

"Why don't you check it out Naruto? I promise not to tell your father or your mother." Said Orochimaru with a grin. Again, Naruto didn't trust that grin on his face though, that was quickly out of his mind when he had heard that he could go check it out without his parents knowing. Maybe he could even bring Hinata with him! Yeah, it'd be an adventure! Grinning all the more, Naruto waved to Orochimaru before he ran out through the door that leads to the roof.

Though, Naruto had missed the dark and dirty smile that was on the snake man's face.

Walking down the halls, Naruto wondered where Hinata could be. Maybe she was in her father's office today? That was the only thing that came to mind for him. Smiling a bit, the young boy kept on walking down the halls trying every room that would possibly have Hinata within the room. Though, each room was empty or locked with someone having an appointment with someone for some kind of contract.

Either way, the rooms didn't have Hinata within it.

The little boy knew that Hinata was here, he did see her coming in with Hiashi when he was arriving with his parents. So there was a chance that Hinata was here, somewhere… _'Hinata sure is weird though… she stutters and faints so much. I'm wondering if she has a speech problem or something wrong with her health… maybe both…'_ thought Naruto with a shake of his head before he kept on walking.

When he passed Hiashi's office, Naruto smiled when she saw Hinata sitting in the corner. A bright smile on her face as she drew something on the piece of paper that was in front of her. Grinning, the little boy walked into the room and bowed to Hiashi, least he would show some respect to the man. "Hiashi-sama, do you mind if I borrow Hinata? I wanna show her something."

"Show her what Naruto." Demanded Hiashi with a calm gaze. Though, Naruto knew that he was trying to figure him out. When Naruto turned his head, he saw Hinata staring at him with confusion; he knew that she wouldn't know anything about this so it made it easy for her to follow along in a sense. Well that, and the fact that she never talked much when he was in the room with him. Though, he was sure that she didn't speak much when he was around, it was hard to say.

"I saw something in the cafeteria and I thought she might find it interesting." Said Naruto with a big grin on his face, scratching the back of his head as if he was hoping that Hiashi would buy it. Though, Naruto didn't think he would buy it since he wasn't stupid. That was for sure.

"Fine… But Kakashi is going with you."

"Oh come on! What is with people wanting me to be watched by Kakashi?" shouted Naruto before rubbing the sides of his head, though it almost looked like he was clawing at his head with anger and frustration. This was just not fair, that was for sure… Though, now Naruto had to make a plan to get himself and Hinata away from the silver haired man. This, to him wasn't going to be easy.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto had started to devise a plan that he could use to get Kakashi to leave him and Hinata alone. And, so they can get into that old building and smirk at the thought of finding some awesome treasure!

As they walked out of the office, Naruto bumped into someone who, just so happened to be the very person that is to be watching him and Hinata. The man was tall, about the same height of his father. Though, his silver coloured hair made him look taller as it defied gravity and stood up straight yet tilted itself to the side a bit. He wore a headband that covered his left eye. And a strange mask that covered the bottom half of his face, and disappeared into his clothes.

It made Naruto wonder how anyone could wear a mast while inside… The rest of his outfit was a normal business suit. Something that a lot of people wore while they were in the building. "Ah, Naruto there you are. Oh, and Hinata… are you two going to be playing again today?" asked the silver haired man.

Naruto sighed as he said "yeah, we're going to the cafeteria. You don't need to follow us Kakashi." Kakashi just stared at Naruto; he knew that the silver haired man was raising an eyebrow at Naruto. Though it was hard to tell since his other eye was covered by a headband, and the fact that his eyes always looked like he was half asleep with them being half closed all the time. There was only one other way for this all to go according as plan. Though, he knew that it was going to be difficult for this plan to work. Taking a deep breath, Naruto walked with Hinata and Kakashi… maybe they could sneak away or something even better?

Naruto was in deep thought as he walked with everyone. It made him wonder though just how they were going to get away. Kakashi walked behind them to make sure that they didn't try to escape. Naruto turned to Hinata who looked down a bit as she walked. Her face, as usual was a soft pink, it made Naruto wonder just how she could be pink like that… was she sick? Frowning, he just stared at her for a moment before turning his head to stare on ahead of them, watching where he was going.

"Naru-kun… where are we going?" whispered Hinata; she must have guessed that the cafeteria wasn't really the real place that they were going to be going too. He had to admit, she knew him so well.

"The old corporation building. I heard there might be treasure in there." Whispered Naruto, Hinata smiled a bit at that. Maybe she was just as curious about the building as he was. Not that he couldn't blame her; since the building was deserted before they were born it was only natural to be curious about it.

"Are you talking about your arrangement with each other?"

"What?" asked Naruto as he turned around and stared at Kakashi with confusion in his eyes.

Kakashi gave a small smile that was so bright that Naruto could see it from behind his mask. "You two whispering about romance. Whispering about love, your parents have to be happy to hear about this. You both must know that you are both are arranged to be married."

"M-M-Married?" shouted Naruto with shock in his voice. He was arranged to marry Hinata? Like his mom and dad are married? "No! Hinata is my friend! She was only my friend and that's all she'll ever be!" shouted Naruto, his face bright red at the thought of marrying Hinata. When he turned to stare at the blue haired girl next to him, he could clearly see that Hinata was close to passing out.

"Come on Kakashi! Me and Hinata are only friends, nothing more and nothing less!" Naruto said, flailing his arms around! "I would never marry Hinata!" shouted Naruto before crossing his fingers into a cross and making a whole bunch of clones of himself and Hinata appear. Naruto smirked as he said "later sucker!" Well, all of the clones of Naruto said that. Each one of them taking a copy of Hinata all of them taking different routes to get away from Kakashi.

Naruto smirked, this wasn't what he was originally going to do for his escape plan, he was going to start a food fight in the cafeteria though decided better of it.

"Naru-kun, why are we going into the building?"

"It's for treasure and for the adventure!" said Naruto with a smile before walking into the building with Hinata. The floors were black with dirt and dust. There was no telling when the last time someone had come in here was. Though, what he did know was that there had to be something in here, just like what Orochimaru had said.

Hinata looked nervous, that was for sure. Though, he knew that it was to be expected after being in here… There was no way that they should stay here too long. The building could fall apart at any given moment. Naruto knew that much at the least.

"What… what floor Naruto?" asked Hinata with confusion in her voice.

"From what I remember… I think dad said he was on the fifth floor… no, he was on the second. That would be a good place to start." Naruto calmly said as he gently took Hinata's hand in his. He gave her a smile hoping that would help her relax a little bit before he started to walk away through the building.

As they walked, Naruto could see the wires sticking out of the ceiling, a few sticking out of the walls. Some of the cubicle that were still here were shattered or just fell apart from when the building started to break apart. How it was still standing though was amazing. When he looked up at the ceiling, he could make out that the water pipes had also broken, some of it still dripping water. Hadn't the water been turned off on this place yet? Shaking his head, Naruto kept on walking with Hinata through the building.

Turning his head, the blonde haired boy frowned when he saw his father's name on the one door that was just at the corner. This must have been his father's office before it the building became unstable for anyone to be in here.

"Let's keep going Hina-chan." Whispered Naruto before gently tugging at her hand to go up the worn down stairs. A few steps had broken off though still manageable to climb up. Looking around, the young man wondered if it would be alright to rebuild this place… maybe do some renovating to help get this place up and running again. This could even be a great place to teach music. Kinda like a school.

Yeah, that's what he would do when he inherits the company, he'll turn this place into a school for those who want to learn about music. For those who have musical talents that wish to learn and harness that talent.

"Naruto… what are we looking for?" asked Hinata, her voice sounding afraid. Looking at her, the blonde haired boy could easily see her body shaking just from the sounds of the pipes leaking and dripping onto the floor. Naruto couldn't blame her for being scared. Hinata wrapped her arms around Naruto's arm and sniffled as she said "I don't like it in here… I wanna go back…" Naruto knew that they had to find that treasure first. Maybe the guy left something in here that meant the world to him… and wanted to be sure he got it before his last moments.

"We'll leave, don't worry Hinata. I just wanna see what's on this floor. I know dad said that he was on this floor." Looking at her, he gave Hinata a bright smile as he said "don't worry Hinata. I promise to protect you. I'll keep you safe no matter what. That is a Naruto Promise." He chuckled before they kept on moving forward.

As he wondered around the floor, Naruto wondered just what could have been so great about the treasure anyway. Sure, treasure was so many things that would be dear to people. It made him wonder, though just said nothing.

Sighing softly, the little boy rubbed Hinata's shoulder hoping that she would relax a little more. Taking a deep breath the boy tried hard not to bump his head into one of the wooden planks that had fallen through the ceiling or trip over some of the pipes that came out of the floors. He wasn't sure what the pipes in the floors could have been. It was hard to really say for the time being.

"Naruto, look over there." Said Hinata as she pointed over to the far left, Naruto frowned and stared at where she was pointing and saw something sparkling in the dimmed light that shined through the glass of the windows. Frowning, Naruto walked over to it and saw a few scraps of cloth. It made him wonder if this was what the man was trying to get. Lifting it, Naruto saw that it was a locket… a gold locket with a matching golden chain.

Frowning, Naruto dusted it a bit and saw that on the locket was a heart with swirls surrounding it. Frowning, he opened it and saw a picture of a man and a woman. The woman was in a wedding dress, and the man was in a suit. He guessed that it was from their wedding. Looking on the other side of the locket, it said 'My Treasure'. So… this woman was his treasure… as was this locket. Shaking his head, Naruto pushed himself up as he said "I guess we found what we were looking for. Let's go back. Huh? Look out Hinata!" shouted Naruto as he pushed the blue haired girl out of the way as someone had punched Naruto in the stomach.

If it had hit Hinata, it would have possibly caused her more damage than him since he had learned to endure most pain. Sliding on his feet, Naruto looked up and saw a tall masked person. He guesses that it was a man because of the build.

The man was slender in the waist; his hair was pulled back despite his mask… it reminded Naruto of those masks that criminal's wear to hide their entire face and head. The only thing he could make out was his hair sticking out of the bottom. All of his clothes were black, as if he was hoping that the shadows of the building would keep him safe. Groaning, Naruto hissed at the man and got ready to fight back.

"Who are you?"

"You're death."

Naruto narrowed his eyes into slits as he charged and punched the guy in the stomach. Then a swift kick to the chin. Naruto turned around and rushed to Hinata and pulled her wrist, placing the locket into his pocket to keep it safe for now. If there was one thing that Naruto knew, was that he had to pick his fights. He had to get Hinata out of here before they both got killed.

"Naruto what's going on?" shouted Hinata with fear in her voice.

"I don't know! I just know we have to get out of here!" He tried to run as fast as he could, but that was easier said than done. For, Naruto wasn't used to holding onto someone… though there was no way that he was going to let her go that easily. No way in hell. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto growled for a moment as he tried to think on where he was to go… this building was bigger than the other so it made it harder. Plus, he was panicking, and couldn't think straight.

Looking behind him, Naruto cursed under his breath and shoved Hinata and slammed his first forward. The man quickly dodged that and slashed something like a kunai at Naruto. Naruto screamed out in pain, for the kunai had slashed from his left cheek, ran across the bridge of his nose and up over his right eye, just stopping above his eyebrow. Naruto screamed and cursed out in pain. His eye tightly closed, he knew that he had to keep fighting.

Tightening his hands into tight fists, he threw his fist, and then gave a swift kick. Hinata just stared in horror at what she was seeing.

Naruto crossed his fingers as he created many clones of himself. Hoping that would be enough to beat this guy, he had to get them out of here.

"Aw, the little boy is going to try to beat me with clones? You are pathetic kid." Naruto narrowed his good eye as his one clone started to make movements above his open palm. The other clones did the same thing with their partners. The man just stared in shock when a glowing blue orb started to form. Though, there was something off about it. There wasn't enough power within it. As soon as Naruto was about to use it on the man, the glowing blue orb disappeared.

"No!" shouted Naruto before the man kicked the blonde boy in the chest. Naruto screamed and his back slammed into the wall. Hissing and gasping in pain, Naruto tried to push himself up but the pain was intense. The man started to walk toward Hinata, the blue haired girl was shaking in fear as she tried to get away. Naruto shook his head as he said "get away from her! Stay away from Hinata!" He roared out the last part and his blue eye started to flash red.

Then, there was a flash of yellow that appeared. Naruto stared in shock as his father appeared out of nowhere. "Dad?" he said in shock, not sure what to say or do for the time being, though what he did know was that his dad came just in time.

"You've messed with the wrong man's son." Said Minato, his voice angry and full of the desire to hurt. Naruto had never heard his father sound like this before, and it had him scared that his dad was going to do something horrible. Both of Minato's hands glowed with the same blue ball of light that Naruto had just tried to do moments before. Though, unlike Naruto's they were complete, and full of power.

Before he could see anything happen, the little boy had passed out from the pain.

Groaning, Naruto started to open his eyes. He wasn't sure where he was, the last thing he had remembered was that he was in the old Namikaze building with Hinata… he had found a locket, got attacked and was saved by his father. Wincing in pain, Naruto reached up to his right eye and blinked when he felt a bandage covering his eye.

He wondered… running hand down his face, he wondered if it covered his whole face. Though, from what he could feel it only covered where he had been hit by the kunai. Groaning in pain, the little boy sat up in bed and looked around the room. Frowning in confusion, he saw that he was in a room full of white. The walls were white, the ceiling was white… so was the door even the sheets were white. Was he in a hospital?

"Naru-kun!" shouted a voice, causing Naruto to turn toward the door and standing there was Hinata. Her face stained in tears, as if she had been crying because of him. Standing behind her was Naruto's father. The stern stare had told him that he was in a load of trouble right now.

"Hinata, why don't you get something from the vending machine? I need to talk to Naruto." Calmly said Minato, watching Hinata as she left. Soon, the blonde haired man walked over to the bed and took a seat just next to Naruto. "Naruto… why did you go in there. I told you not too! You could have been killed, and you dragged Hinata with you!"

Naruto winced; he knew that he was in trouble. Gulping, he said "I… I heard there was treasure in there… I got curious. But… I did find something dad." Naruto reached into his pocket and held out the locket that he found. Minato stared in shock only for his eyes to soften. Minato grabbed the locket and opened it up.

"She was his treasure. He was never the same when she died…"

"She…"

"Yeah, she had passed away after the birth of their first child. This was the only thing he had left of her. He never wanted to lose it ever." Minato whispered softly, sighing softly… the young man stared at his son as he said "Naruto, when you have something so dear to you, you'll begin to think of it as your treasure. Like mine are you and your mother. What do you treasure?"

The little boy frowned for a moment as he tried to think. Tilting his head he said "you, mom, Hinata and the stars."

Minato smiled as he leaned a little close to the bed as he said "I'll tell you a secret Naruto." The little boy looked up and frowned a bit. This confused him, what could his father want to tell him? Minato smiled a little more as he said "the stars are more than just stars. My father told me this when I was your age. As did his father, and his father before him. The stars are our souls Naruto… when we're gone; our souls go to the sky so we can watch those we love. We're always watching, always wanting to protect those we left behind."

Naruto just stared at his father. Wondering why he was telling him this. Was this another tradition in his family? That would make sense since his father has been teaching him a lot of family traditions, such as the training. "And when my time on this world is done Naruto, I'll be watching over you and your children." With that, Minato ruffled his son's hair and chuckled.

"Dad… how did you find me?" asked Naruto in confusion. Just how did his father know that he was going to be in that building?

"Kakashi sensed that you were in there. And rushed to me to get my help." Naruto nodded to that, least that was one thing that was answered for him. Minato smiled a bit as he said "Naruto, when Hinata gets back we'll all go and get some ice cream alright?"

"Okay!" with that, the troubles of that day had washed out of Naruto's thoughts, though… his scar would always be a reminder of what he had failed to do… protect Hinata.


	5. Long Lived Our King

_It had been three years since that day, I promised my father that I wouldn't go in there again and I did. Least, by taking up music lessons, it was a great help to me, kept me busy and it filled my passion for music. Though, what I got on that day still haunts me. The scar that I received was a reminder of what happened. I failed to keep Hinata safe, and I felt like an outcast. I tried to make it up to everyone by trying to be good to everyone. It worked too. My life was great again; I had gone back to having a great life… least, until that day. _

_Today was my birthday. Normally a birthday is a happy day isn't it? You get presents; you're surrounded by loving family and friends. In fact, the day is all about you really. But on this day I couldn't find joy in that, not really anyway. Sure, it started out like any other birthday. But later on was what haunts me to this day._

_For today was the day that I felt an ever consuming guilt that I felt like I was drowning. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't break free of this guilt from what I had done…_

Naruto sighed softly. It was a nice day sure, though he felt like he was board out of his mind. He had finished five different guitar classes in those three years of taking them. To him, it felt like it wasn't enough for him. The young man still had the desire to learn more about guitar. Sighing, Naruto strapped his guitar to his back as he started to walk on home. Over the years, he had changed the chain that he had been given by Orochimaru, thinking that it was strange for the white skinned man to give him something after all those years.

He still didn't trust him… least not completely.

Turning his head, Naruto stared at his reflection and sighed. The scar was still there, people in his class had asked him time and again how he had gotten the scar on his face in the first place. Though, Naruto knew that he couldn't tell them in the least.

They'd just think he was lying if he told the truth. Sighing softly, he started to walk past the store as he headed back to his father's company. Maybe if he was lucky he wouldn't have to go inside. Since what had happened three years ago, he had avoided Hinata as much as he could. For he felt like he would only put her in danger all the time. It doesn't matter if it upsets him but, it was for her own safety.

Running his hand through his blonde locks, Naruto wondered what he would look like if he dyed his hair red like his mom's… It would be nice to see what he would look like with red hair instead of blonde. _'Hm… maybe I could try that out when I'm old enough to dye my hair.'_

Looking behind him, Naruto wondered what life would be like if he was like everyone else instead of the son of Minato and Kushina.

His life had been nothing but pain and disappointment for a while now. Sure, he had most things that people couldn't afford but, sometimes he wanted to have more friends. And, for people to stop making those stupid kissy sounds when he was near Hinata. It was so annoying when people did that, thinking that Hinata was his girlfriend when she wasn't.

Sure, his parents and Hinata's had arranged for them to be married but there was no way that he was going to marry her! They were friends and girls were… ugh… just kissing one (that wasn't his mother) was disgusting!

Shaking his head, Naruto kept on walking down the street. Sighing softly, the young boy kept pushing himself to go back to the company, maybe if he was lucky he wouldn't have anything to worry about today. It was bad enough that his parents had kept asking him what he wanted for his birthday, though it just seemed like everyone was also avoiding him. Well, almost everyone.

Hinata was the only one that was trying to talk to him. She didn't want too, fearing that he would remember what could have happened. The thought of her almost dying made his blood go cold.

Shaking his head, the young boy sighed softly before pushing himself back to his father's company. Maybe if he was lucky, nothing will happen today and he can be left alone to do what he wants. All he wants is to practice his guitar and try to get some songs down. He wanted to be a singer that was a secret that he never told anyone. Not even Hinata… there had been least something that he's never told her.

Looking up, Naruto could make out the sign from his father's company. It seemed that they were planning something but… he wasn't sure what they could have been planning anything. Adjusting his guitar strap he walked into the building as he got through the security and what he saw confused him greatly.

No one was there.

This only confirmed his suspicion that something was up and he knew it. Frowning a little more, Naruto tried to think on what was going to happen… why would the guards not be at the front door in the first place? Frowning a little more, Naruto kept on walking through the building trying to think on what was going to happen. Frowning, when Naruto looked up on the walls, he saw signs with arrows on them. All of them pointing to the left, so he followed them. Maybe they'd show him where everyone was.

As he walked, the small boy sighed as he tried to think on what was going on. Frowning, he had noticed that he hadn't seen anyone here. It was as if they had all disappeared from the very building. To Naruto, that was a little strange to him. Tilting his head to the side the blue eyed boy thought that maybe had gone on a lunch break. Though, then he thought better of that, there is no way that would include the guards to, since they eat at their desks. Maybe there was something else that he wasn't aware of?

But, what?

Frowning a little more, the young man took a deep breath hoping to calm himself down. He felt like his life was nothing but one surprise after another. There was nothing that helped him in any way… that was for sure, though he knew that he would have to expect anything at this point. Over the years, he found out that he was to marry his best friend, he had been attacked by some masked man and he finds out that all of his training was like those of the ninjas and his one move, could take a full life time to master.

When he looked up, he saw a note that said 'Naruto, walk on inside'. Frowning more, he reached the door knob and opened the door. The room was huge and dark from lack of the lights being on. Why weren't any lights on? Even he knew that wasn't normal, reaching over, Naruto flicked on the light switch and almost had a heart attack.

"Surprise! Happy Birthday Naruto!" shouted everyone in the company… well, almost everyone, Orochimaru was the only one that didn't show up.

_'Are they trying to kill me?!'_ thought Naruto with a hand clutching his rapidly beating heart. Everyone was in the room, all of 'em wearing party hats and throwing up confide. It was something that Naruto had out grown though he knew that they were trying their best to cheer him up. He had been down for a while now. When he looked up at the room, hanging from the ceiling was a banner that was orange with bright orange letters that said 'Happy 10th Birthday Naruto!'

Oh how he wanted to just be left alone right now.

"Thanks everyone, you didn't have to throw me a birthday party." Said Naruto, hoping that his smile didn't look as fake as it was. Taking a deep breath, he thought that maybe he could at least pretend that he was happy for this amazing birthday party.

Naruto had his fair share of cake, and of course had opened up all the presents that he had received. One of course was a new game system; another was a few games for said game system and so on. So many people had bought him things that he felt like he wasn't ever going to use more than once… All he cared about was music. The only thing that someone got him that would have been worth anything was Hinata.

For she had gotten him a beautiful guitar pic. On one side was his mother's symbol, the red swirl that reminded him of a whirlpool. On the other, was the symbol of the Hyuuga Clan. Yellow circle with a red flame in the center, it reminded him of the necklaces that they made for each other. It was something that gave Naruto a smile at the very least. Chuckling he looked up at Hinata and smiled at her.

She hadn't changed much; her hair though was a little longer, just slightly passing her shoulders. He had to admit, she looked good with her hair longer… she looked so beauty- no! He had to stop thinking like that! Girls are icky and whinny and they complain about getting their hair messy or getting dirty! They were just so annoying that there was no way that he was going to think about them like that in the least! Even if Hinata is so damn cute… _'UGH WHY DID I THINK THAT?!'_ thought Naruto in a panic.

Naruto gulped wanting those thoughts of Hinata out of his mind. But, how was he to do that? It was as if the very thought of Hinata being in his arms… it made his heart beat quickly almost like when he first got in here and they surprised him. Gulping, Naruto pushed himself up to his feet and strapped his guitar to his back again. "I… I'm gonna go out for a bit. I wanna be alone." He gave them all a smile before walking out of the room and out of the building.

Naruto though was stopped in the hall by a cold and pale hand. Looking up, Naruto's eyes were wide when he saw Orochimaru and his own skin went so pale that the scar on his face revealed itself a little more, looking more deep than it really is. "Naruto, I wish to give you your present outside. Please, sit by the side walk okay? I'll join you in a moment." Calmly said the snake-like man before he started to walk away from Naruto. Now, normally he wasn't going to accept anything but… it would be rude to not at least accept and say thank you. Rolling his eyes, the boy walked out of the building and sat by the sidewalk as he tried to think on what he could have gotten from Orochimaru.

As he sat on the side walk, Naruto tried to think on what Orochimaru could have possibly have gotten him. After all, the white skinned man knew nothing about him. It was just something that made it think that nothing good could have gotten from it. Unless it was just another game system. There was just so many things that he could get though it just didn't make it all the easier for him.

Though, he wasn't really sure what the snake could have gotten him. At this point it could be anything at this point. Hell, he didn't even keep the chain that he gave him three years ago. Hell, the chain was in his pocket… he wasn't sure what he could do with it, for the moment it was just a plain chain that he might be able to use for something else.

Looking up at the sky, the boy thought that maybe to help him pass the time he could play a tune. Grinning, he took the strap of his guitar off and started to play a simple tune to himself. There were no lyrics to this song, for the time being there wasn't a point to it. Leaning back on the sidewalk, Naruto wondered what his parents were going to plan now. Now that he was ten, there had to be something at the least, maybe they'd all go out to dinner with Hinata's family. That would be nice to spend at least a little bit of time with Hinata.

It would be a little nice to spend some time with Hinata before he had to start helping out with the company. Learning the ropes and so forth.

"Hey look guys, it's a brat. Check out the guitar, must have cost a fortune." Said a voice, causing Naruto to sit up and look on ahead of him. He couldn't tell who they were though they all had masks on just like the one guy that attacked him and Hinata three years ago. "Maybe he has some money on him." Said the man with a smirk that could be seen through his mask.

Naruto yelped and jumped into the air when the one guy had jumped trying to get to him. The blonde boy landed on his back and jumped over the others. He had to get away from them. Turning around, one of the guys had managed to grab his shoulder. Acting quickly, Naruto tightly held the neck of his guitar and swung it at the masked person. The instrument broke on contact; the splinters fell on the ground as the guitar broke.

"Get him!" shouted one of the masked people.

Naruto had to think quickly. Crossing his fingers into a cross he called out "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Ten clones appeared in a puff of smoke as they all fought the masked people. There were many of them though for some reason they all pulled out kunai's. Something that he hadn't expected to see to be hidden in their sleeves. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto knew that he had to keep fighting in order to protect himself. Maybe if they notice that he was gone too long than they'll come out to get him.

One of them tried to slash at him from behind, though Naruto jumped and did a spin kick to his head. Another grabbed his leg and threw him into the pavement causing him to gasp out in pain. Gasping for air, Naruto never knew that he would feel pain that was this bad before in his life.

One of the men smirked through his or her mask and tried to stomp down on his chest. Naruto yelped and rolled out of the way in time, and spun on the ground causing the masked jerk to fall flat on their back. Things were starting to turn up for sure. But it was far from over, Naruto knew that he had to keep fighting or risk getting himself killed! The group of masked people gathered around Naruto, damn it… there were just too many of them for him to handle on his own! Looking around, Naruto thought that his clones were still fighting them… hell, he didn't even notice that they've been dispelled at all! He was doomed.

"Leave my son alone!" shouted a man, causing Naruto to look up and stare in shock. His father was charging toward them with a Rasengan! His father charged and knocked them aside. Next thing he knew, Naruto was grabbed by his father and was moved to a safe distance. "Stay here Naruto; don't come out until I say so." Naruto could only nod, least he would listen to his father about that for a change.

Meanwhile, Minato had returned to the battle at hand. He had been surprised that his son had just disappeared. But what had confused him the most was when Orochimaru had told him that Naruto was being attacked by some masked gang members. Minato didn't want to waste time on anything but to save his son.

He was thankful to see that his son wasn't as badly hurt as he thought he would be. When Minato had put Naruto in a safe hiding place, he was just happy that Naruto would stay safe. Though, he had to make sure that these guys went down so he could go and get Naruto and go out to have dinner with his family and Hiashi's family.

They would try to see if Naruto and Hinata's marriage would pull through.

Looking at the battle before him, Minato smirked as he created to Rasengan's and got ready to take down the two of them that stood before him. Though, what he hadn't expected was to see that the ones he attacked were nothing but clones. Eyes went wide as he tried to get to think on who could have taught these guys ninjutsu?

Shaking his head, Minato kicked and punched at the other masked people, hoping that he would be able to kick their asses.

Though with each hit he was able to make, they all turned out to be clones. What was happening?! Why was this happening?! Suddenly, he felt something wrap around his arms and their feet in his spine. Minato cursed out loud as he looked up only for his eyes to widen. "You… why?" Minato whispered in shock.

Standing before him was a man holding a gun pointed at Minato's forehead. "Long lived our king…" Minato's eyes went wide when the trigger went off. Only one thing went through his mind…

_'Kushina… Naruto… I'm sorry…'_

Naruto wasn't sure how long he had been in the alley for… though, what had surprised him was the silence that filled the street. Frowning, he walked out of the alley and walked toward the building. Maybe if he was lucky, his dad won and was just too tired to go and get him.

When Naruto had finally arrived he couldn't believe what he saw.

His father was lying on the ground, his eyes closed; his skin was pale as a sheet. Though, what had frightened Naruto was the hole in his head. And the flood that started to pool around him. No, this had to be a trick right? Slowly Naruto walked over to his father and fell on his knees. His pants stained by the pool of his father's blood.

Gulping, Naruto slowly grabbed his father's shoulder and started to shake him. "Dad… dad please wake up." He didn't get an answer. M… Maybe he was just sleeping. That had to be it right? He… he was just asleep! Shaking him some more, Naruto sniffled as he said "come on dad, mom… mom's waiting for us. We were going to go out for dinner right? Like every year…" Naruto had tears falling down his face as he cried. No, there was no way that this could be happening.

More teas started to fall; the young boy placed his arms on his father's chest, and his head resting on his arms, crying. "No! Dad please! You can't die! You can't leave me and mom behind! I'm sorry!"

Suddenly, Naruto heard footsteps coming toward them… Looking up, his face still dripping in tears of sadness and guilt. Standing before him was Orochimaru with a solemn look on his face. "O… Orochimaru."

"What have you done Naruto…?"

"I… I didn't mean too! I was just waiting out here like you asked and… and I was being attacked then… then dad he tried… tried to save me! I didn't mean for that to happen!"

Orochimaru walked over to the crying boy and lifted Naruto to stand on his feet and held the boy in his arms. "Naruto, your father died yes… there is nothing that can be done to bring your father back. No matter what you do… he cannot be saved." Naruto sniffled, Orochimaru was trying to cheer him up and for that he was thankful but… Naruto knew that it was his fault. His dad was dead because of him.

"What can I do?"

"Run."

"What?"

"You are to run away Naruto. Run away and never return to this place."

Naruto gulped and got out of Orochimaru's arms and ran off as fast as his legs could carry him. He had to get away, there just had to be something that he could do. But it seemed that no matter what he does, that his life was going to be nothing but hell and torment. First he failed to protect Hinata… and now, his dad was dead because of him. Why must his life keep getting worse and worse for him?! Why!?

As he ran, Naruto turned and saw someone chasing him. He gasped when he saw a kunai in the man's hand. Naruto had to keep running! He had to escape! But how!? Looking around, the young boy knew that he had to keep getting away; he had to keep running as fast as his small legs would allow him!

He didn't know how long he had ran for, though what he did know was that there had to be some way for him to get away right?

Gasping for air, Naruto stopped at the train station. Well, more like the trains that they used to transfer cargo. Maybe he could use that to his advantage? Gulping, he ran as fast as he could to get there. As he ran, the man threw a kunai toward him and it just flew past his head. Gulping, Naruto knew that he had to keep running or he was doomed!

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto pumped as much energy into his legs as possible. Growling, the young boy jumped on the moving train and hid in one of the many crates that they had on the train. When he was sure that he would be safe, Naruto curled up in a ball and kept quiet. Wanting to make sure that he wouldn't be found… the last thing he needed was to be killed like his father… Soon enough, Naruto had cried himself to sleep… today, was the start of his new life.


	6. New Life

_I wasn't sure how long I have been sleeping for, all I knew was that I felt the train stop and that I could still feel my heart beating in my chest. So I knew that I was still alive… and I knew that my father was long dead. I couldn't believe what I had done… all I was doing was waiting for someone and my father had to pay the price…_

_Now, I have to live a new life, away from my family and friends. It's the only way to keep them from knowing that I had killed my father._

_Though, I couldn't start my new life… until I could pick a new identity for myself… I had to change my appearance and my name. There was nothing more I could do but to do that… But, what I wondered was if I could ever keep up with my new life… and if I could ever forget my past? There was no telling what the future holds for me now… Now, to start my new life as…_

Groaning, Naruto slowly started to open his eyes, he saw nothing but darkness with slivers of light cutting through. Groaning softly once again the young boy pushed himself up to sit up in the crate and groaned, rubbing his shoulders from the stiffness that had settled in during his sleep. Rubbing his eyes, Naruto slowly pushed on the lid of the crate, trying to think on where he was… Though all he saw was the darkness of the train, though the door was open wide… did that mean that someone had opened up the train to unload some things?

Frowning, he looked around the train some more thanks to a little flashlight on his keychain. He saw all the supplies that was in this train… it looked like… hair supplies? No, he could also see some supplies for make-up? Was this for some kind of salon or something? Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his head. Naruto had an idea for some of this stuff. Smirking, he ran over to the crate that had some hair dye and the other that had some kind of powder that his mother uses once in a while to hide some of the red in her cheeks.

Though, as Naruto looked through the crate, he had trouble finding the right colour that he wanted for this. He needed the right shade of red that wouldn't make his hair pink. That would be embarrassing for sure.

Shaking his head, Naruto kept on looking, there had to be red in here somewhere. There just had to be, or else he'd have to wonder around with blonde hair and he didn't want that. He had to start making his new identity for himself right now! Narrowing his eyes, Naruto dug a little deeper into the crate hoping to find his colour. There was nothing that was going to stop him until- "Ha! Found it!" cried Naruto with a grin of victory. Staring at the colour he read the instructions and frowned. It seemed simple enough for the most part. Grinning once more, Naruto started to get to work on changing his appearance… This was going to be the start of his new life that was for sure… now, all he had to think up of was a name…

* * *

"I can't believe I was able to do it." Said Naruto with surprise in his voice as he stared at his reflection. His hair was a deep crimson, the same colour as his mother's hair, though it was still spiky none the less. And thanks to that make-up powder that he found even his whisker marks were gone. Though, he could clearly see his resemblance to his mother in his face. And that itself made him home sick.

Shaking his head, Naruto said "no, I can't go home… I don't have a place there anymore." Running his hand through his freshly washed red hair, Naruto started to leave the train, he was thankful that it had stopped by a lake so he could wash his hair from the hair dye. It did make him look awesome in a way. Grinning, he started to walk away from the train that is until his pants got caught on a loose board. Cursing to himself, he saw that he now had a hole in his jeans. Damn and these were his favorite too.

Sighing, he kept on walking; Naruto dug his hands into his pockets trying to think on what he could do in this town. There was no way that he could go to cops, they would only bring him home and he didn't need that.

Though, he also knew that he would need to eat at some point but again, he wasn't sure if the money he still had in his wallet wouldn't last him forever.

Shaking his head, Naruto knew that he would have to find a place to stay… but where could he go? Looking up at the sky, Naruto knew that it was the afternoon from how bright the sun was right now. So, that gave him some time to look for a place to stay and for some food to put in his belly. Frowning, he started to get to work. Well, not really work per-say. Sighing, the young boy knew that this was going to be a lot harder than it should be.

A lot of people were chatting as they walked past him, a few staring at him as if trying to figure out the young boy. Naruto knew though that they wondered where his parents were. No right person would leave their child out in the open like this. But sometimes, a child was left alone but not because their parents left them alone… but because the child had left them. When he came to that conclusion, Naruto stopped for a moment as tears started to fall. "Dad…" he whispered, Naruto knew that he had been distant from his family for three years, if only his father knew that he still cared about him and his mother but now… it was too late. His dad was dead and he was never going to come back.

Looking up at the sky, Naruto knew that this was a new start for him and that he was going to have to let go of those emotions at some point in his life. He would have to lock them away within his body to never resurface again. Looking over across the street, Naruto thought that maybe he could check that place out… it would be nice… to enjoy being a kid one last time for the time being. Giving one last smile, Naruto walked over to the park, careful of the cars and went to check it out.

He could easily see the slides, the swings, seesaws, everything a park would have.

It almost made Naruto smile… he could remember the times when his dad would bring him and Hinata to the park when they were kids. Least, when his dad had some time off from work. Sighing softly, Naruto sat on the swings and just held onto the chains that held the swing to the metal poles. Even while at a park, Naruto just couldn't enjoy himself.

"Hey, you okay?" said a voice, causing Naruto to look up at the concerned green eyes of a pink haired girl. Okay, so maybe he shouldn't have said those with pink hair was stupid. She was a little shorter than he was. She wore a simple red dress and some nice white sandals and tilted her head to the side while staring at him.

Next to her, was a boy with black hair. Two locks of his hair framed the sides of his face, while the rest of it was slicked back almost like a duck's behind. He wore a blue t-shirt with white shoes and matching white sneakers. The boy had black eyes though he looked a bit emotionless. Naruto wondered why they were talking to him in the first place… Don't they notice that he wasn't around here?

"What's with the scar?" asked the boy.

"It's none of your business." Growled out Naruto.

"Now Sasuke, be nice to him. Do you want to play with us?" asked the girl.

"No thank you." Said Naruto as he turned his head away from them, not wanting to get too close to them at all. There was no telling what could happen, he might get found then he'd be doomed if they got involved with him. The two kids stayed near him for a while before they started to walk away and play with some other kids in the park. Right now, to Naruto they had the good life… For the time being, he had nothing… and no one in his life…

As he watched the kids play around with care free smiles on their faces, it made Naruto think of his own childhood. To other kids his life would have been perfect for sure. Though at the moment, he wasn't sure if that would be possible at this moment in time.

Sure, he had a lot of money from allowance in his secret bank account but still… he knew that was money he couldn't touch ever again. Knowing that if he did there was a chance that they would somehow track that or something. For at some point in time they would find out where he was… so, for now the money will go untouched by anyone but Hinata… Hinata was the only one that knew of the account after all…

He smiled at the thought of Hinata. She was the only other thing that mattered to him in his life. Though, Naruto knew that Hinata would have a better life without a killer for a friend. The young boy knew that Hinata would cry if she heard that he killed his own father, and the thought of her crying made his heart ache.

Looking up at the kids again, Naruto saw that the kids were starting to leave with their families. Even the two kids that spoke to him though they both left with a woman with blonde hair… though that was the only thing he could make out about the woman. But it had him a little jealous, for those two had someone waiting for them to come home… while he had no one waiting for him. That was just how life was going to be for him.

For the rest of his life…

* * *

Naruto had been on his own for a week now… His body was thin and frail looking… his eyes dull of voice of any and all emotions that once resided in them. His clothes clung to his body as the sky darkened and started to down pour. He wasn't sure how long he had been walking around for, though what he could remember was that he hadn't eaten in the week he has been away.

For every time he would try to get something someone would ask him where his parents were or they thought he was loitering around the property. Either way, he was starving, wet and cold. Rubbing his arms, Naruto tried to think on what he should do, he knew that he had to go somewhere to warm himself up. But sadly, his wet clothes don't really help his situation all that much. Looking around, he couldn't see what was going on in the least…

The streets were so dark, and clouded. Naruto felt so weak that he didn't know what was up or down anymore.

Letting out a loud sneeze, Naruto's teeth chattered together so loudly that anyone could clearly hear it. He had never known that he could be this cold in the rain. This weather was harsh as the wind blew against him. "Why… is it… so damn cold… in the summer?" whispered Naruto as he tried to keep walking. His legs felt heavy like lead… he could barely lift them anymore and it was only getting harder and harder to move.

Lifting his head, Naruto blinked a few times wondering why he hadn't gone to get himself some help… why he hadn't gone to someone that could help him or even give him some food. Either way, he knew that he was paying the price now.

Naruto's body couldn't hold himself up anymore; he soon felt his legs give out as he fell forward. He felt the ground under his cold and shivering body. Naruto blinked slowly trying to get himself to keep thinking. To keep his brain working… The rain kept on hitting his body making him shiver a lot harder. _'I'm… so cold…'_ thought Naruto before he closed his eyes.

_Naruto opened his eyes, though what had confused him the most was why he was in this dark place. It looked like an underground tunnel or something. Frowning, he looked down and saw a low level of water flowing around… great, more water… Frowning a little, Naruto started to walk around as he tried to think on what was going on, or where he was… Was he dead? No! He can't be dead!_

_"So, you've come at last kit…" said a voice, causing Naruto to jump as he turned around and saw a huge cage. Within the bars of the cage was a man with long red hair, the same colour that Naruto dyed his own blonde hair as, and the same colour as his mother's. The man's eyes were red with black slits for pupils down the center._

_His clothes were nothing but red robes with gold swirls and trim. Naruto had to admit, the guy looked almost like a king or something. This to him was a little weird since there hasn't been a king or a lord for a long time, least that he could remember… history wasn't his best subject in the least. "Who are you?" asked Naruto, trying to figure out just who this guy could be._

_"I'm known by many names… Kyuubi, Nine tails, but you can call me Kurama."_

_"Okay Kurama, where am I?"_

_"We're within the seal that was placed on you."_

_Frowning, Naruto tilted his head as he tried to figure out what Kurama was talking about. But no matter what he just couldn't think of anything. Shaking his head, Naruto looked up at Kurama as he asked "what seal?"_

_Kurama smirked as he said "you were born yet you didn't cry, nor did you breathe your first breath into the world. You're parents wanted you to live so badly, that they sealed me within you to bring you back to life. You've had me within your body your whole life Naruto. Though, your father had another purpose for it."_

_"What was it?"_

_"It was…"_

_"What? It was what?"_

_"It was… well I don't know what it was."_

_Naruto fell over then stood up straight wanting to kick this guy's ass. This guy didn't even know why he was sealed in here?! Ugh! Taking a deep breath, Naruto rubbed his forehead as he looked up at this man, trying to figure him out some more. The more he looked at this man, Naruto could make out a pair of red fox ears atop of his head, and behind him nine swaying red tails… Now he knew why his other name was nine tails._

_"Am I dead?"_

_"No."_

_"Good."_

_Least he was still alive… but why was he here?_

_Kurama just shrugged, Naruto knew that he wouldn't know in the least. He must have been just as clueless about this as he was. Sighing softly, Naruto sat down, not caring that his pants would get soaked. Like it mattered anyway… Looking around the room, Naruto wondered if he could learn anything while he was here…_

_Tilting his head to the side, Naruto asked "Kurama… why is your hair the same colour as mine?" Kurama stared at Naruto's hair for a moment as he explained how he had been sealed away in the Uzumaki clan members for many long years. And all members of the Uzumaki members have red hair though unlike Naruto he was born with blonde hair instead of red. That made some sense… Suddenly, Kurama smirked._

_"Your hair isn't from the dye Naruto… that was me."_

_Naruto frowned and lifted his head as he tried to think on what he was talking about. Kurama laughed softly as he said "Naruto, I was the one that changed your hair colour, for what you tried to do with the dye was wrong and it would have coloured your skin more than your hair."_

_"What about my whisker marks?"_

_"Not me. You were able to hide those on your own. Though, the powder you used is somehow water resistant so it won't wash off with water. You need special remover until you can get the normal stuff. Or unless something else happens."_

_"Like what?"_

_"I'm not really sure. It's hard to say but chakra is another way to remove it."_

_Naruto nodded to that, least it made some kind of sense. He knew that there was something in chakra that could do many things that would come in handy. At least he knew that for a fact. Taking a deep breath, Naruto ran a hand through his hair again, least he was happy that his hair wasn't going to go blonde again. That was a plus… suddenly, Naruto felt something weird like his body was fading from this place._

_"What's going on?" asked Naruto as he looked at his hand, seeing that it was starting to fade. Was he starting to wake up? Shaking his head, Naruto whispered "am I waking up?" When he looked up, he saw Kurama nod and smirk before the fox man started to disappear from his sight._

Naruto slowly started to open his eyes. All he saw was a white ceiling which made him blink a little more. What was going on? Frowning, the young boy pushed himself up only to shiver and lie back down. He was frozen and shaking like crazy.

"Oh, you're awake." Said a voice, when Naruto turned his head he saw the same girl from a week ago. She gave him a bright smile as she said "we found you on the side walk out cold. Me and Sasuke brought you to Tsunade to help you. Just rest okay?"

He didn't know what was going on, or how long he was asleep for though what he did know, was that he was just so tired. And, he wanted to rest some more. Suddenly, he felt like someone had slapped him which had made him blink in shock and confusion. "Don't you dare sleep understand!?" shouted the pink haired girl.

Naruto sighed and stayed awake. Suddenly, the door had opened and when he turned his head he saw the black haired boy… Sasuke right? He wasn't sure… though next to the boy was a woman. The same one he saw that picked up the two kids last week. Was she their mother or something? The woman had her blonde hair pulled back in two ponytails that hung low; her eyes were a light golden brown, which were behind some glasses. On her forehead was a blue diamond, which made him wonder why she had that in the first place.

Next, were her clothes. She wore a white shirt with a V-neck style, a green jacket, black pants and matching black heels. Weird thing for a nurse to wear but it was her choice. Taking a deep breath, Naruto listened to what this woman had to say.

"Hello, I'm Tsunade, Sasuke and Sakura found you passed out on the side walk on their way back from the mini store. What happened to you? Where are your parents?"

Naruto blinked a few times as he said "I was walking… got cold and passed out. As for my parents… I don't know." In a sense he was telling the truth. He knew his father had to be taken somewhere to be buried, as for his mother he wasn't sure if she stayed at the company or had moved away. There was no telling what she would be doing right now.

"Alright… hm, anyway according to my charts you were under weight, and were close to having hyperthermia… You're very lucky." She said with a smile before going over her charts some more. "Now, where have you been staying young man?"

"The streets…"

"No, I mean your home."

"The streets."

The woman stared at Naruto as if he grew a second head. Her lips turned downward into a frown as if she was trying to process what he had just said to her. "You don't have a home?" Naruto just shook his head and yawned softly. Tsunade smiled as she said "alright you can stay with us. First, you have to tell us your name."

Crap that was something Naruto hadn't thought of yet! He couldn't use his real name could he? No, he knew for a fact that they would look up his name and find out that he killed his father. He couldn't have that. He had to think of a name and fast before he took too long. Though, he had a feeling that they wouldn't mind if he took a few minutes to think of his name since he was half frozen.

Blinking slowly, he whispered two thins…

"Oturan Umaki…" he then went to sleep.


	7. Entertainment

_I didn't think that these two years would go by so easily. All I did know was that while I stayed with Tsunade, Sakura and Sasuke that I had to help out with the work in her very own hospital. I hadn't expected that Tsunade healed people with chakra, least that's what I've been told. Anyway, I was supposed to help entertain the sick children that were to be staying in the hospital for a week or even a little longer._

_Either way, I was to keep them entertained but, sadly it seemed that everything I did wasn't enough to keep them happy. Though, what I did end up coming up with was enough to make them happy, and enough to start my future career._

_And to be, that was enough to get my new life going._

Naruto couldn't believe that he was working at Tsunade's hospital. Sure, the woman was an amazing doctor and all but really? She wanted him to work with the younger kids that were to stay here in this hospital. Sighing, the young pre-teen knew that it was a little uncool to be around younger kids. Though he knew that if he was to repay for Tsunade's kindness that he would have to just suck it up and deal with it.

Over the course of two years, Naruto had grown a little taller; his hair grew a little longer since he refused to cut his hair in the least. His hair reached a little past his shoulders, weird thing was that unlike the rest of his hair, his hair that was tied back in a ponytail was straight instead of spiky.

Meanwhile, Sakura was something like an assistant to Tsunade when it came to the medical stuff. Apparently, Sakura had the skills and talent to be the next best doctor in the world. While Sasuke… well… Sasuke helped with cleaning. So in a way, Naruto got the easy job, how hard could it be to entertain some kids? Which, had made him smile at least a little at that. Sighing softly, Naruto knew though that even if he was stuck here working for a new life, he couldn't help but wonder… how everyone was at his old life.

Was Hinata okay? Did she miss him in the least? And what about his mother? Kakashi? Were they all okay? It made Naruto wonder if they were all okay or if they missed him. Did they know that he was a killer? If so were they looking for him at all?

Frowning, Naruto thought that maybe it was better that he kept himself hidden for a few years. He hadn't really changed all that much and worried that he wouldn't be able to hide himself very much. Either way, he was screwed if his real name ever got out… sighing softly, the young boy knew that for now he will just have to deal with the problems that he has right now.

This would be entertaining some children.

Walking to the closet, Naruto had been told that a lot of the kids love puppets so maybe he could put on a puppet show or something. Least, if he was any good at it but he had a good feeling that would be horrible. Sighing, Naruto looked over on the shelf and saw a box of puppets and the small theater that was used for said puppets. Least it was easier to find it than it was to set it up.

Shaking his head, Naruto lifted the box under one arm, and grabbed the handle of the puppet theater with his other hand as he started to pull it. Thankful that the stage was on wheels or he would be grunting and gasping trying to pull it to the kid's room. As he pulled onto the stage, Naruto tried to think of a good show for the kids. Something that would make them smile or something… hm… Shaking his head the blonde pre-teen thought that no matter what he wouldn't be able to think of anything.

Just as he got to the door, he looked in and overheard the kids talking among themselves. "I can't stand another puppet show… That's all they ever do for us." Said a little girl with her arm in a cast.

"I know. It's as if all they think that puppets are the key to entertaining us." Said a boy with pale skin.

Naruto frowned, okay so they were sick of puppets huh? Hm… Maybe he could play a song instead. He did buy a guitar with some of the money he had earned since he used his last guitar against those guys that had tried to kill him. Though, for the song he had in mind, he would need two more people. Smirking, Naruto ran into Tsunade's office and saw that Sakura going through some of the files.

"Sakura, I need your help with something."

"Like what Oturan?"

"I need you to get your drum set and meet me in front of the kid's room. Don't ask questions!" said Naruto with a wide grin before he ran off to get Sasuke. He knew that Sakura was amazing with the drums; she had taken lessons before her parents passed away. When they all had saved up money Naruto saw that Sakura had bought a nice set of drums that was a mixture of pink and red, which also had swirls of cherry blossoms on them. A beautiful set itself…

As for Sasuke, he had bought a nice blue bass guitar that had a red and white fan on the back of it. Though, also had a few swirls of black that to him, resembled flames. Naruto wasn't sure why that was though he had a feeling that Sasuke had a thing for flames or something. Either way, Sasuke, like Sakura could play amazingly when it comes to the bass guitar.

Just as Naruto was passing one of the halls, he saw Sasuke mopping up the hall. Smirking, Naruto ran over to Sasuke, sliding on the floor before he grabbed the black haired pre-teen's shirt. "Yo, Sasuke, get your bass guitar and meet me and Sakura at the kid's room. You'll see why." Before Sasuke could say anything, Naruto let go of Sasuke and slid down the hall and crashed into the wall. "Ow…" He grumbled before running down away and toward his own room. The only way that they were going to be able to keep up with his playing, is if they also had copies of the music sheets that he worked on in his spare time.

He was going to share it with those two later but… well, now seemed like as good as a time as any.

Going through his desk, Naruto pulled out some sheets of paper with music notes and the lyrics on it. Smiling a bit, he went through the lyrics for the guitar and memorized them for himself. Grinning, he grabbed some stands from the corner of his room for their music sheets. Then, looking at the other side of the room he saw his guitar with his necklace hanging off of it. He hadn't played guitar in a while though… it didn't stop his desire to play. Walking over to his necklace, Naruto picked it up and stared at it. The chain was still in good shape as was the pendent.

"Hinata… are you still thinking of me even now? Do you miss me? Do you know that I'm okay? Do…" his bangs covered his eyes as he gritted his teeth trying to prevent the tears from spilling. He could easily feel the tears prickling in the back of his eyes, threatening to spill over as he felt his heart ached. "Do you still care about me? Do you smile… for someone else now?" Tears started to spill and roll down his cheeks. Looking down at the necklace again, he could recall his very words to Hinata… his promise to her…

_"Here… this can be a symbol of our friendship."_

Those words rang in his head as more tears started to roll down his face. He had said that the necklaces that they made were symbols of their friendship… He had told her that and they smiled like they never had a care in the world.

_"These necklaces shall always be a symbol of our friendship; so long as we wear these… our friendship shall never break."_

Naruto felt like he had broken their connection. He had taken off his necklace so the others wouldn't bug him about it. He had told them that… it was… was _nothing_ to him. Gritting his teeth, Naruto tightly closed his eyes and clenched his hand into a tight fist. Why did he say that? Hinata's friendship meant the world to him and it still does. She was his best friend, and the only one that he would risk his life to keep safe. That was how he received the scar that still marked his face. Looking up at the ceiling, his tears stained his face as he heard Hinata's soft but happy voice.

_"Okay Naruto… we'll… we'll be friends forever and ever."_

_'Hinata… do you still remember me for who I am? Do you ever think about me at all? Do you even remember me anymore?'_ thought Naruto as he started to wipe his eyes. The pain of leaving her without a word still hurts him. Though, he knew that it was the only right thing he could do. He had to live his life, and think of the future and not his past. For now, he had to make what was best of his life and not of the worst… no matter how much it still haunts him.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto slapped his face a few times to snap himself out of his depression before he placed the necklace around his neck and smiled. This necklace was a symbol of his and Hinata's friendship; maybe someday he'll see her again. Maybe anyway… Taking a deep breath once more, Naruto gathered his things and made a mad dash toward the children's room. Nothing was going to stop him now, not a thing! Not ever!

* * *

"So what's your plan Oturan?" asked Sasuke when Naruto had shown up. Naruto just grinned and handed the two pre-teens the sheet music for them to go over. Sasuke and Sakura looked a little surprised that he was able to write all of this down since, well he had to admit Naruto doesn't look like the kind of guy to be able to write music in the least.

"This is… pretty good Oturan…" whispered Sakura in surprise.

"Give me some credit. Everyone has a talent, mine just so happens to be writing music." Looking around at the two of them, Naruto noticed that for Sakura to bring her drums here, which she had to set it on a moving plat form with wheels. It does make sense since a drum set does have different parts and it takes a while to take apart and put it back together again.

Sasuke smirked as he said "so the dope has a talent after all." Naruto glared at him for a moment before he opened the one door, and Sasuke opened the other so that way Sakura can bring in her drum set. The kids stared at the three pre-teens in shock and surprise. Naruto grinned, knowing that the kids had been expecting a boring puppet show instead of a band.

"Hey kids, you all ready for some awesome music?" said Naruto with a smirk. The kids all cheered, which made Naruto smile a soft smile. It was kinda nice to hear children's joyous laughter and cheers. It made his heart swell with joy and happiness. It was kinda nice to be here right now… to make a difference for others who were down on their luck. After Sakura got her set in, Naruto and Sasuke went to help her bring it to the center of the room. All of the kids went and sat on their beds as they waited for the music to begin.

Naruto tuned up his guitar, as did Sasuke with his bass. It was a hard thing to prepare but the look of excitement on those kid's faces made it better for them. Naruto wondered how they would react to the music… it had him a little nervous but he knew that they just might like it.

_I have often dreamed  
Of a far-off place  
Where a hero's welcome  
Will be waiting for me  
Where the crowds will cheer  
When they see my face  
And a voice keeps saying  
This is where I'm meant to be_

Naruto sang with Sasuke, his voice was soft and full of emotions that he had kept within his heart and soul for two years. The kids held onto their stuffed toys with wonder shining in their eyes. Naruto had expected that from them. The strum of the guitar and bass was a wondrous thing… it was a mysterious how well the song began…

_I'll be there someday  
I can go the distance  
I will find my way  
If I can be strong  
I know every mild  
Will be worth my while  
When I go the distance  
I'll be right where I belong_

The song was already trapping the kids in its soft music. Naruto had their full attention, which had him a little happy. To him, that was enough of a sign that the kids loved the song. Sasuke stared at Naruto with surprise; Naruto figured that he was surprised at how well he sang. Not that he could blame them, he had hidden this skill from them like how he had hidden the skill of writing sheet music. Near the end of this verse, Sakura started to play her part… the drums made the song all the more complete.

Naruto never knew that it felt so right to play for someone again…

_Down an unknown road  
To embrace my fate  
Though the road may wonder  
It will lead me to you  
And a 1000 years  
Would be worth the wait  
It may take a lifetime  
But somehow I'll see it through  
And I won't look back  
I can go the distance_

The drums have faded into the distance as Naruto and Sasuke sang. The kid's smiles have widened with joy. Naruto figured that they were enjoying this much more than a stupid puppet show. The song was flowing with the emotions that were in Naruto's heart, along with the emotions that was within this very room. It was something that Naruto never knew that could be possible… it was like their hearts were becoming one with this very song…

_I will stay on track  
No I won't accept defeat  
It's an uphill slope  
But I won't lose hope  
Till I go the distance  
And my journey is complete_

As he sang this part, Naruto moved around on his feet, his eyes shined with the hope in his eyes that he would be able to return to his home. That he would be able to see Hinata again. Maybe he couldn't really let go of his past after all. No matter how hard he tries, the past just won't let go of him in the least. He guessed that some pasts are just something that will have their hands on you for as long as you live…

_But to look beyond the glory  
Is the hardest part  
For a hero's strength is measured by his heart  
Like a shooting star  
I can go the distance  
I will search the world  
I will face its arms  
I don't care how far  
I can go the distance  
Till I find my hero's welcome  
Waiting in your arms_

Naruto didn't care how long it takes him. He'll make up for his crimes by making others happy. Maybe that would be a good way to redeem himself. That will be a way to pay for his crimes, by making other's happy with his music. There was nothing that will stop him from this goal. He'll spend his entire life to make others happy. No matter how long it took him to do just that.

_I will search the world  
I will face its arms  
Till I find my hero's welcome  
Waiting in your arms_

Once the song was done, the kids all cheered in joy. Naruto smiled, happy that they all enjoyed this song. Sasuke turned to Naruto and patted his shoulder, which would be enough of a 'good job' from him at this moment. Sakura walked over to Naruto and gave him a quick hug and a bright smile. Naruto didn't return the hug though… to him, it was awkward to hug anyone… hugging leads to being too attached and he worried that he would lose another person dear to him. He had already lost his father… and left behind Hinata and his mother.

He didn't want to feel that anymore. Maybe it was best not to get attached to anyone. Not again anyway…

Sakura let go of Naruto and smiled as she said "we might need a name for this band." Naruto blinked at her in surprise… he hadn't thought that they would become a band just from one song but maybe that was meant to happen after all. Scratching the back of his head, Naruto tried to think of a name… something that would have some kind of meaning.

But it sounded a lot harder than it seemed. Frowning in confusion, Naruto calmly said "how about 'The Red Whirlpool'?" He tilted his head at them, wondering if that was any good. Sasuke and Sakura just shrugged for now, maybe they would grow to love that name, for right now that was the only one that came to mind for the time being.


	8. Don't Wanna Forget

_It had been three years since the band had first been made. It seemed that as the time was going by I felt like I was forgetting more and more of the past. I could faintly remember a girl's voice that was shy yet at the same time happy and full of joy. It just seemed like the more I'm away from her the more I forget about her. But… I didn't want to forget anything about her, she was the one thing that was keeping me sane and yet here I was slowly losing my memories of this one girl._

_Was it because of my guilt? Was my guilt washing away the memories I have of this girl to torment me all the more? I hope not… The only thing I could see of her now, was her hair and the bottom half of her face and down. Her eyes were overshadowed from my vision. Would I ever remember her was that I was thinking…_

Naruto lied in his bed as he looked up at the ceiling. Everything seemed to be slow today, though he wasn't sure why that was. Blinking his dull eyes for a moment, the young teen sighed softly as he rolled out of bed, his feet shuffled onto the floor as he walked into the bathroom. Running a hand through his hair, Naruto looked into the mirror as he saw his reflection.

His chin had a little stubble on it, his eyes had dark circles under his eyes and his skin was a little pale. Blinking his tired blue eyes, Naruto also noticed that his hair was longer… over the years he had been growing his hair out thinking that it worked for him. He even had two locks of spikey hair framing the sides of his face. In a sense, he looked like his father though with red hair instead.

Shaking his head, picked up his shaving cream, lathered it onto his chin, cheeks, basically the bottom half of his face. Naruto had to admit though; he was surprised that even his stubble was red like his hair… Kurama sure covered everything.

Blinking slowly, Naruto wondered what he was to do today… Tsunade didn't need any help at the hospital so he was free to do what he wanted. Sadly, that was harder than it seemed. Naruto didn't know what he could do on a day off; he was always board out of his mind and would normally just sit around trying to think up of songs but coming up with nothing. It was as if he had lost the flow for his music.

Sighing, Naruto finished getting himself cleaned shaved and splashed water on his face to get the remains of the shaving cream off before drying himself. Staring at his reflection, Naruto wondered if he would be able to find anything to do. Yawning, Naruto grabbed his hair brush and started to brush his bed head. Though, it started to become more difficult the longer it got… Was Kurama trying to make sure that no one would recognize him in the least or was it something else? Shaking his head, Naruto was able to tie his hair in a ponytail just at the nape of his neck and stared at his reflection for a moment. He looked so tired… so dead… It was like the life had been sucked right out of him and he doesn't even know why that is. Sighing, he turned around went to his closet to look for something to wear.

Looking down at the necklace that was around his neck, Naruto knew that it meant a lot to him. That it was a sign of his friendship to someone… but he couldn't remember. He knew… just knew that this person meant the world to him. Hissing, he covered his face as his scar started to burn. As if it was trying to remind him with its pain. Damn it, the scar was never this bad when the pain would come now and again; it seemed like it got worse the more he forgot about this person in his memory… who was slowly fading away into darkness.

_'I don't wanna forget her… but she's slipping away…'_ thought Naruto as he fell onto his side, curling up in a ball trying to get the pain to stop. But it seemed that no matter what he did, the pain just wouldn't leave him alone. In fact, it seemed that the pain was increasing all the more. Just Naruto thought he was going to black out, the pain slowly started to subside… for now.

Groaning, the young man rubbed his face with a shaky hand, trying to think on why that had just happened right now. But at the moment, it seemed that his scar just wanted to piss him off or something. Shaking his head, the red haired teen pushed himself onto his shaky legs before walking to his closet and opened up the doors as he glanced at his clothes. He had to think on what to wear today… For the past few weeks, he's been trying to work on his signature style in clothes and so far, nothing just felt right for his own personal style… least his style for the band.

Frowning, he reached into his closet and tried to find some clothes that would work… Sides, searching for the perfect outfit also gave him a chance to think on what he could do on his day off. Maybe he could go out for something to eat after he works out… or just a simple walk. Either way, it would be something at the least.

Looking deep inside his closet, Naruto pulled out an orange muscle shirt, a black leather jacket and some black jeans. These seemed simple enough but would it work for him was what confused him the most. Shrugging, Naruto grabbed the muscle shirt and threw it over his head and pulled it down. It seemed to work for him so far… Next, he grabbed the pair of black jeans and pulled them over his legs as he sighed, trying to think if the others would want to hang out with him unless Sasuke and Sakura had a date today… he couldn't remember… oh crap he was losing his mind. If he couldn't even remember if they had a date today, a simple thing at that… was he really losing his memory? Shaking his head, Naruto reached for his leather jacket and slid it on… He knew that he was still missing something for his outfit but he wasn't sure of as of yet.

Shrugging, the young man grabbed his black sneakers, knowing that they didn't go with the outfit, maybe he needed to buy the last of his outfit… that was something to do at the least.

As he walked down the halls, the young man heard people saying 'hello' to him, all he did was give them a small wave as he walked. His mind was in some kind of shut down. The memories that he did have were slowly fading, it was as if he was forgetting everything about that girl… even her hair was starting to fade from his mind.

Frowning, Naruto tried to think on what he could do to prevent his memories from fading from him. But, no matter what nothing came to mind. He didn't know what he could do to stop his memories from fading from him.

Sighing, the young man tried to get the fear and concern of his memories fading to go away for the time being. He was sure that he would be able to figure out what he was to wear for his style while on stage… maybe, something else would come up though and it would stop the memories from fading from his mind. That would be a nice change. Laughing to himself, Naruto started his personal adventure of shopping.

* * *

As he walked out of the store, Naruto couldn't help but look back at the two new items that he received. A pair of black fingerless gloves and some steel toed boots with wheels in them. Something new, but hey, to him they worked. His gloves could be really useful for when he has to hold his guitar for long periods of time, since his hands do sweat a bit if he holds something far too long.

As for his boots, they were black, blending in with his jeans so it was almost undetectable in the least. But, at the same time it was thanks to the gold button designs on the sides that ran up the sides. Smiling, Naruto started to walk down the streets, he would have to think of a new song to write when he gets back… and… he would have to get something down at the very least.

As he walked, Naruto dug his hands into his pants pockets, trying to think on what to do now… so far, it didn't seem like his memories had disappeared any more than they already had. Did that mean that they were stopping now? That no more of his memories would fade from his mind? It would be nice... though, what bothered him the most was his scar. It would burn here and there, even when he was in the shop it was burning on him but now… it wasn't as bad. Was that good or bad? He couldn't really say.

The streets weren't very crowded today; it was as if people were afraid of something. But what could it possibly be? Looking on ahead, he saw a girl around his age. Eyes widening, Naruto stretched a hand outward as one word escaped his lips. "Hinata?" he couldn't believe that he remembered her name. Shaking his head, the young man followed the girl, was it really Hinata? There was no way that it could be her… but the thought of her name, it was bringing back memories that he thought would be forever lost to him.

Frowning, he followed the girl. Wondering if this really could be Hinata… though, he couldn't really be sure of that. Frowning in confusion Naruto blinked when he saw a guy stand in front of the poor girl. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto listened in on what he was saying… though he couldn't really hear what was going on.

The guys grabbed the girl and got her to go into the alley. This didn't set well with the young man in the least, far from it. Narrowing his eyes, the young man ran to the alley and saw the boy pinning the girl to the wall. Her fear was covering her like a blanket to the point where Naruto could almost see the aura of her fear. "Hey," said Naruto with a growl in his voice. "Let the girl go, understand." Demanded Naruto as he walked toward the two. When the girl looked at Naruto, he saw that her eyes were green… they weren't lavender… this wasn't Hinata.

But it didn't stop the thought that this girl needed help.

The boy turned to Naruto and narrowed his eyes. "What are you going to do about it?" demanded the boy, who came out of the shadows. He had short black hair, matching black eyes and wore punk style clothing. The punk narrowed his black eyes as he said "tough guy huh? Think you can go a round with me?" He pulled out a knife and smirked as he charged at Naruto.

Shaking his head, Naruto pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to tell Sasuke to bring Sakura; he might need someone to help this guy in the injuries department.

When he looked up, Naruto took a step to the side before lifting his knee and slamming it into the punk's stomach. The contact made the poor teenager gage from the force of the hit. Though, that wasn't enough to stop this guy, oh no. The teen narrowed his eyes at Naruto and swung his knife at him, just barely missing his face. "You can't win… You're way out of your league with me." Said Naruto with a calm stare, which only served to piss his opponent more.

"Shut up! I'll fucking kill you!" shouted the punk.

"Bring it." Smirked Naruto as he pushed the punk into the wall, turning to the girl he said "run!" She nodded and ran off as fast as she could. Naruto turned to the punk and narrowed his eyes. There was no way that he was going to let this guy go after that girl. He had to buy her some time to get away.

Snapping him out of his thoughts was a knife stab to his stomach. Naruto hissed out in pain and fell over. Damn it, he should have been paying attention! Narrowing his eyes, Naruto swung his fist into the guy's head, and then lifted his knee slamming it into his stomach. There was no way that Naruto was going to lose this battle. Taking a deep breath, Naruto grabbed the guy by his shirt and threw him into the trash.

The punk on the other hand, landed on his hands, flipped to his feet before kicking Naruto in the face. Blood started to drip from the red head's nose from the force of the kick. Growling, the young man crossed his fingers and said "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Clones among clones appeared in puffs of smoke, causing the punk to stare in shock. "You've fucked with the wrong man." Growled out Naruto before all the clones started to charge, beating the crap outta him.

When he was sure that the guy has had enough, Naruto took a deep breath before dispelling his clones and started to walk away. He wasn't as badly hurt as he thought he would be. That was a nice change though; he wondered when Sasuke and Sakura would show up… it made him wonder if they even got his text.

"Die!" shouted the punk as he held up his knife once again. Hoping to stab Naruto in the chest, Naruto just sighed as he held up his palm, using his other hand from side to side above his faced up palm hoping to gather and rotate his chakra. Now was as good a chance as any to use this… not like he could prove that he could do this…

Turning on his heel, Naruto swung his body around as he aimed his hand at the punk as it glowed a blue orb of swirling chakra. Only one word escaped the red head's lips. _"Rasengan!" _When the orb made contact with the punk's stomach, the knife had made contact with Naruto's chest just barely missing his heart. When the hit was made, the punk flew across the alley way, which had made Naruto smirk.

Though the victory was short lived, Naruto's eyes widened from the pain as it surged through his body. Turning around, he tried to get out of the alley; maybe if he got out of here someone would find him and get him to a hospital. Looking up tiredly, the young man looked up and breathed heavily when he saw Sakura and Sasuke standing before him with shocked expressions on their faces. He smiled a bit before he fell forward… His vision starting to darken as they screamed out his name…

* * *

Naruto slowly started to open his eyes, he wasn't sure how long he had been out for… groaning, he slowly rubbed his forehead and looked around the room. Noticing that he was in the hospital, this looked just like the room he stayed in when he first arrived here… Frowning softly, the young man just shrugged softly, only to let out a soft hiss… though, that was when he realised that he felt nothing… no pain…

Blinking, he checked his stomach and his chest, then his nose… no pain, no blood no nothing!

Taking a deep breath, Naruto pushed himself up and out of bed and saw that he was still in his clothes. Frowning, he wondered just how long he had been sleeping for. Shaking his head, the young man opened the door and blinked when he saw Sakura and Sasuke standing there with confusion on their faces. Staring at them with an innocent stare, he asked "is something wrong?"

"Well… we're kinda wondering how you did that one move? The blue orb thing." Asked Sakura as she stared at Naruto trying to figure him out.

"Yeah Oturan, that move isn't possible. Just like how Tsunade is able to heal people's wounds and injuries with chakra." Said Sasuke as he crossed his arms over his chest and gave Naruto a dirty look. This was something that Naruto was used to seeing on the black haired teen and shook his head. There was no way that he was going to tell them anything… he couldn't tell them at all that he had learned chakra from his father who just so happened to have been killed by him.

So, he said "I don't want to talk about it. Later." He then started to walk away only to add "also, we have a gimmick later and I have the perfect song for it." Naruto laughed softly before he started to walk away. Maybe today was going to be a good day after all. But, Naruto knew that they still had questions for him but right now he didn't want to say anything about how he learned about this or anything. He just didn't want to talk about it in the least.

* * *

On the stage in the park, Naruto looked out at the crowd and smiled happily. "Hey everyone, this is The Red Whirlpool! And boy do we have a song for you!" Today, they were to play in the park for a charity walk or something. He wasn't really sure what it was since he wasn't paying much attention or anything of the short. Though, at the moment he could care less. His passion was for his music and nothing more…

He didn't want to get attached to anyone again and he was sure that no one would blame him for his reasons.

Taking a deep breath, he started to play his guitar along with Sasuke and Sakura with their instruments as the red haired teen sang the perfect song for this moment. Least, it was perfect to him.

_All that is near us  
We must know  
Could disappear any day  
Be careful_

Naruto slid around on the stage thanks to his boots, well the wheels that were in his boots. It was if he was moving to the flow of the music. Naruto's eyes were half closed as if he was feeling a small hint of peace. In a sense, he was… this song was his peace of mind. That he should have treasured his life when he still lived with his parents… there was so much he should have done but didn't…

_The main key to finding happiness  
Lies nowhere else but in my soul._

Spinning in a circle on the stage, Naruto could see nothing but blurring colours mixing in together, the most defined was the strip of red that he knew was from his hair spinning around with him. Thinking of how long his hair had gotten, it made him wonder how much longer his hair could get… why was his hair getting so long in the first place? Ah well…

_You could reminisce, you could recall  
The very last time you felt joy  
Or maybe you are so blessed to a point  
Where you can't remember anything  
It's a harmony, a miracle  
Being to breathe and live at all_

His fingers flew across the strings of his guitar in a fluid motion, as if they had gone so fast that they couldn't be seen yet still, the song was perfect to be understood. Naruto's eyes were closed as he pushed himself, sliding back to his original spot next to Sasuke, well across from Sasuke so everyone could also could see Sakura.

_So here is you're one and only chance  
Life is an opportunity_

Grinning, Naruto jumped in place, crossing his ankles as the wheels slid back into the bottoms of his boots. His smile was bright for the first time in three years; it was as if Naruto finally found one of his answers to his many questions.

_All that is near us  
We must know  
Could disappear any day  
Be careful_

_The main key to finding happiness  
Lies nowhere else but in my soul._

The song was true; the things that were close to him had disappeared. His father was dead; he ran away from home and could never see everyone else again. He could never see his mother… Hinata… or the many meals that his mother could make. So many things that he had held dear to him had disappeared and he knew that he would never get those back no matter how hard he tried.

_You know the closer you get to something  
The tougher it is to see it  
And I'll never take it for granted  
Let's go!_

Swaying from side to side, Naruto had closed his eyes as he tried to envision his times with Hinata and his family. Maybe he could at least have joy from those memories. For, he knew that the times he had as a child were the best ones he would ever have and he wouldn't change that for anything in the world. At the end of that verse, Naruto threw his hand up in a fist above his head.

_Some people may call a kind deed  
An act of mere hypocrisy  
But never mine those who have lost faith  
You shouldn't give in to what they say_

Throwing his head, Naruto knew that some people didn't care about 'kind deeds' anymore. Not that he could blame them, for most people just did it for money. That was something he could understand for he used to do that too a few times before he ran away from home. That was something he rerated next to his father's dead. Sighing, to himself, the young man knew that he would have to let that go at some point but… he couldn't help it. It still hurt; it made his heart ache in the worst way possible from the guilt.

_As a matter a fact let me tell you  
Even it was a selfish cause  
A salvageable hypocrisy  
Is superior to murderous honesty_

_Everybody tells you from time to time  
To never give up  
Like a phrase from a movie  
They tell you to stand up for yourself  
As if it was always that easy_

_Gather a handful of courage in my heart  
To go on and survive another day  
And I'll never take it for granted  
Let's go!_

Naruto turned and stared at everyone as they said their lines. Naruto knew that it was strange for a song to have people speaking for it… but, he felt that it was right to do this. It just seemed so right for these words to be said.

_Sakura: Everybody make way for the King!_

_Sakura: This way, sir._

_Sasuke: So you are the young boy who saved the world._

_Naruto: Yes, your Highness._

_Sasuke: You will be rewarded for your bravery. What is it that you want? Gold? Silver?_

_Naruto: No, your Highness._

_Sasuke: Is it land?_

_Naruto: No, sir._

_Sasuke: Well, what is it then?_

_Naruto: I don't seek any more, for I have already acquired a gift in my heart._

_All that is near us  
We must know  
Could disappear any day  
Be careful_

_The main key to finding happiness  
Lies nowhere else but in my soul._

Grinning at the crowd, Naruto swung his arm in the air, as if he was hoping to get everyone to join in on the song. And, it did just that. Everyone was joining on in the song. It almost felt like Naruto had some kind of power to get people to join in on his plans no matter how stupid they are or how amazing they were.

_You know the closer you get to something  
The tougher it is to see it  
And I'll never take it for granted_

He wasn't going to forget his past; he wasn't going to hide from the memories.

_Everybody tells you from time to time  
To never give up like a phrase from a movie  
They tell you to stand up for yourself  
As if it was always that easy_

He will live out his days to try to make others happy no matter the cost.

_Gather a handful of courage in my heart  
To go on and survive another day  
And I'll never take it for granted  
Let's go!_

_'And that's a promise…'_ thought Naruto with a smirk.


	9. Found

__**I'd like to say that this took me a almost a whole day to work on and I hope that you like it. The song that was used is a fan dubbed version of Sign done by MidiguyFDdp21, so please enjoy  
**

* * *

_It's been five years… I'm twenty now and I still held the guilt from my father's death. Though, I still held the wisdom that he had passed down to me. Life wasn't about earning money or owning a big company like the Namikaze Cooperation. No, it was about treating each day like a gift, treating those around you with respect and helping them in any way you can._

_I wished that… I had known that when I was younger._

_But, at least I didn't learn it too late. This week, was the strangest week I have ever had in my life. As for why, well… it went like this._

Over the years, Naruto had really matured. His body had more defined muscles. The most detailed was around his torso. No matter what shirt he wore anyone could clearly see his abs and his pecks. His arms though, weren't overly muscled but enough to see that he does lift heavy weights most of the time. The only other change was his face. His face lost some of the roundness that he had inherited from his mother. Now, his face looked like his father's.

It got too painful for him to look in a mirror now. Every time he would stare at his reflection it would make him see his father and then… well Naruto would end up punching the mirror shattering the glass. Sasuke of course had asked him why he did that. Naruto just told him "I saw a dead man…" Sasuke had asked him what the red head had meant but again, Naruto wouldn't tell them anything of his past.

And of course, Sakura had asked him why he never went out with anyone. Every day, he would have at least five girls come to him asking if he would go out with them. And he would just say 'no, I don't want to date girls that only care about my fame rather than me…' which, in a sense was true. Fan girls normally only cared about a man's money if they had it. There was just no point in it at all. Naruto couldn't care less about those girls, they didn't care about him in the least and he knew that… the only one that ever cared about him is still in his old life.

_'Hinata… how are you…'_ thought Naruto as he walked up onto the roof of the hospital. Strange enough, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke still stayed at the hospital, thinking that it was a good place to hide instead of getting a mansion. They would still help out with Tsunade's patients now and again but it was mostly Sakura that would help out since she is the only other person that can heal them.

Yawning, Naruto pulled out one of the lawn chairs from the side of the wall and sat it down as he then took his seat and looked up at the sky. He did this every year… on the day of his dad's death… and his birth. It was a horrible memory, for someone you know and cared for to die on your birthday. That was for sure… Sighing, Naruto placed his arms behind his head as he stared at the starry sky… a couple of stars falling which made Naruto smile a little bit.

Sighing softly, Naruto ran a hand through his spiky locks then grabbed the part of his hair that was in its ponytail. In the course of five years his hair had grown out so much that even if he stood up his hair would touch the ground no matter what he did. Not that he didn't mind it very much… He could always use his hair as a whip. Naruto laughed at that part, like someone's hair could be used as a whip.

"Hey Oturan."

Blinking, the young man turned around and saw Sasuke and Sakura standing behind his lawn chair. "What are you guys doing here?" asked Naruto with confusion, he didn't know why they would come up here when… they never have before. Least not on this day.

Over the years, Sasuke and Sakura had changed as well… Sakura's hair was a little longer… well a lot longer to the point she braids her hair as it reached just above her rear. She wore a simple red Chinese-style dress with the side splits, the black pants that of course came with them… and the knee high boots that had something like white leg warmers attached to them instead of leather. In a way, it suited Sakura.

As for Sasuke, his hair is pretty much the same length since he always has it cut and thinks it's weird for a guy to have long hair. His main style of clothes is a mixture of white and blue. With a bit of black of course. Black t-shirt, blue jacket, white pants and black combat boots in case anyone tries to mess with his girl. Yeah, that's right he and Sakura have started to date as of last year. Naruto never knew though that they would go out since Sakura was cheerful and tried to help others while Sasuke was just so damn serious.

"We were worried about you. You come up here every year and yet you never say why…" said Sakura staring at Naruto with concerned eyes. He knew that they worried about him, since he never did share anything of his past. Though, they also didn't ask about it in the least… maybe they wanted him to talk about it without them having to ask or… they knew that just thinking about his past was painful.

"Mind if we join you Oturan?" asked Sakura with a tilt of her head. Sasuke just stared at Naruto with his calm gaze. Something in his gaze told Naruto that he wanted to ask that as well, but wanted to still seem cool without having to ask in the least. Naruto just shrugged at them and waved his hand, gesturing that they can join him, he wasn't going to stop them in the least.

Leaning back on his chair, Naruto looked up at the sky just staring with a solemn look on his face. There were so many things that he wanted to say to his father… he knew that his father was up there… looking down on him. Looking down on him with disgust and hate. Possibly thinking on how to get his revenge upon him when his time was done.

"Hey, what do you think is up there with the stars?" asked Sakura, turning she stared at Sasuke and Sakura… least, she had asked that after they both sat down next to Naruto. Well, she sat next to Sasuke, while Sasuke say down next to Naruto. Giggling, she said "I think that besides the stars, there is a chance that there are aliens out there that might want to learn about chakra… the study of chakra is dying…" Naruto could detect a hint of sadness in Sakura's voice; he knew that she was sad that not a lot of people knew about chakra anymore… not that he couldn't blame her…

Sasuke took a sip of his beer, though where he got that Naruto didn't know nor did he want to know. Shaking his head, the red head man just wondered what Sasuke would say… there could be many things that Sasuke could say anything that would be… well Sasuke-ish.

Yawning, Sasuke took yet another sip of his beer as he said "I just think there are hunks of rocks out there with the stars. Nothing else…" Naruto just sighed and looked up at the sky as if he was trying to think about something when really… his mind was just void of thought. His mind allowed to wander as much as it wanted… only for his thoughts to wonder to what his father told him about the stars.

_"The stars are more than just stars. My father told me this when I was your age. As did his father, and his father before him. The stars are our souls Naruto… when we're gone; our souls go to the sky so we can watch those we love. We're always watching, always wanting to protect those we left behind."_

Naruto could still remember his father's words. No matter how many years have passed there was no way that his father's words would ever fade from his mind, from his heart… his very soul. It just didn't seem that they would fade from his heart not now, not even in a million years…

_"And when my time on this world is done Naruto, I'll be watching over you and your children."_

Naruto could still see the smile on his father's face. Bright and full of life and joy for anyone that he held dear to his own heart. Taking a deep breath, Naruto tried to calm his nerves but he wasn't sure if it would work. Suddenly, Naruto was brought out of his own thoughts when he heard Sasuke ask him something.

"So dope, what do you think is in space with the stars? We gave our answer…"

"I… I don't really want to say anything."

"Come on Oturan, Sasuke and I said something it's only fair that you do too!"

"But…"

"Please?"

Sighing softly, Naruto looked up at the sky and frowned a little bit. Guess it couldn't hurt to tell them what he thought what the stars were right? Shaking his head, Naruto calmly started to explain what he thought. "Someone told me that the stars are the souls of our ancestors. That they will always look down on us, protecting us from harm for our generation and future generations to come."

Sakura stared at Naruto with wide eyes, he figured that it was because what he said was a bit deep and… because that was the first thing he had said from his past. "Really? You really think that Oturan?"

"Yeah… pretty much."

"So you're saying a bunch of dead dudes are watching us right now?" Sasuke said before he burst out laughing. "What kind of idiot told you that?! Come on get real!" The black haired man just kept on laughing before he started to wipe the tears that started to fall from his laughing. Sakura and Naruto was the only people that didn't laugh at this.

"Yeah… I guess it was… a little stupid." Whispered the young man before pushing himself up and walking toward the door to go down stairs. As he walked, Naruto ran a hand through his hair a few strands blowing in the gentle breeze as he slammed the door behind him.

* * *

Hinata frowned as she wondered down the halls of the company. With her mother unable to work as well as her father, Hinata was left to get a job. If she didn't, Orochimaru would make sure that she or her sister could never get a job no matter how hard they try. Everything here had gone to hell when Minato and Naruto died.

When that day came, so many people had tried to revolt but only ended up getting more work than ever. The snake even makes them work over time for nothing… Everyone was barely getting paid to get by, and now… it was up to her generation to work but even then, it was hard to earn some hard earned money for bills _and_ food.

Looking out the window, she stared up at the sky, wondering if Minato and Naruto were looking down on her… she hoped that she would be able to find a way to save the company. There was no way that they could keep living like this… Orochimaru was going to end up killing all the employees before they could retire! And yet… she could do nothing, the contract for the company clearly stated that if anything happened to Naruto and Minato that Orochimaru would get the company…

If it was only Minato than Naruto would have gotten the company instead but… with both of them gone… it almost seemed impossible. Though, the more she thought about it the more she wondered. Why was only Minato's body there? What had happened to Naruto's body?

Sighing softly, the young woman grabbed a lock of her blue hair and curled it around her fingers as she tried to think clearly. Was there something that she should know of? Frowning, the young woman shook her head; she had thought that there was a chance of Naruto being alive. She had thought that maybe Naruto could be alive when she heard his body was nowhere to be found… but had given up that thought. If he was alive, he would have returned by now.

Wiping her eyes of stray tears, the young woman walked toward Orochimaru's office wondering what he could want her for right now. Was he sending her off to sign up another singer to their company? Though, she hoped not, no singer would sign up with them since Minato died, and the singers the company has left are thinking of leaving since the white skinned man are treating them horribly.

Taking a deep breath, the young woman looked up at the door of Orochimaru's office and thought that if she was ever going to face this guy… she would have to learn that she was stuck with him until he died.

Running a hand through her hair, Hinata opened the door and walked on inside. Her black heels clicking on the hard wooden floors. Her black suit almost made her blend into the darkness of the room. Gulping, Hinata bowed a bit as she said "what do you need Orochimaru?"

"I want you to sign up this new singer… he seems to be very popular… he's had a good run for about eight years or so. Maybe we can sign him up with us and earn some money." Then, he started to smirk. Hinata did not like that smile of his; it always meant something that she did not like… "If you can't get him to sign… then seduce him if you have too." Hinata gulped… yup, that was something she did not like in the least…

This was something that she didn't want to do. But, maybe she could get him to sign before she had to do… that…

"What's his name then?" asked Hinata with her back straight.

"Oturan Umaki."

* * *

Meanwhile, a man sat on the roof of his mansion. Just sitting around and writing his novel. His long spiky white hair blew in the gentle breeze. Looking up at the sky, the white haired man thought he saw a few strands of red hair flying through the air. Frowning, he reached up and held the strands in his hand…

"Hm…" he muttered to himself as his hand started to glow blue with chakra. As he did, the hairs started to glow, the red fading away to be replaced with blonde. "Is this…?" he whispered softly before pushing himself up onto his feet and went into his home to look for that item he was given all those years ago. There is just no way that he could be alive could he? He had died ten years ago… didn't he?

When he reached his study, the white haired man walked into the desk and pulled out a small scroll. Something that he was given twenty years ago… Narrowing his eyes, he held the strands to the scroll, watching as the hair were being pulled to the scroll. Yes, it seemed that this was his hair… he was alive after all! Smiling, the old man said "so you're still alive… Naruto…"

Walking into the closet that resided in his study, the white haired man stared at the old clothes that had once belonged to a great ninja that lived hundreds of years ago. Taking a deep breath, he whispered "it is finally time… Naruto."

* * *

Naruto paced around, he had to go on stage today with a new song. But, he wondered if it would be alright today… lately he's felt like his songs have been horrible and that his fans were just being nice. Though, maybe this song would be the thing he needs to boost his stats as a singer. Taking a deep breath, Naruto grabbed his guitar and went out onto the stage to meet up with the others.

He's been acting a little down lately, was it because of Sasuke laughing at what his dad had told him about the stars? Maybe that was it, since as far as they knew it was just something told to him by some crazy nut job instead of something that was told by his father. Though, he wouldn't tell them that, least not right now… or maybe ever for that matter.

Taking a deep breath, the young man walked over to the stage and hid from the crowd. If he was going to do this then he had to do the right entrance that was for sure. Closing his eyes for a moment, Naruto knew that he would have to relax, that he was to keep himself calm for this song. Picking up his headset, Naruto set them over his head and set the microphone close to his lips though not too close to where it would be muffled.

The time was now…

_I realize the screaming pain  
Hearing loud in my brain  
But I'm going straight ahead  
With this scar_

Sliding onto the stage on his knees, Naruto bent himself far back as he played the guitar. People stared at him in shock as if trying to figure out how he could bend that far. Naruto smirked as he stood on his head, his legs kicking up into the air before he flipped back onto his feet and stared at the crowd.

_Can you hear me  
Can you hear me  
Can you hear me, so am I_

Sasuke and Sakura had some parts, though it just seemed that they would only sing the backup sounds that would be played for this song. Though, from what he could see they didn't mind, since they don't like to sing all that much.

_I don't mind if you don't remember  
All the feelings that we used to share  
For I've sealed away my heart into the darkness_

Shaking his head, Naruto skid on the stage with his wheeled boots. Something that he never out grew in the least. Twirling in a circle, his hair whipping around him from the speed. It was amazing how he wasn't able to get dizzy from the sheer speed. Though, maybe that was because he trained a lot from speed and would sometimes twirl to hit something if needed.

_It's just fine if you end up hurting me  
'cause I don't feel pain anymore  
I just drag my feet behind me  
Towards what's held in store_

Naruto dragged his feet behind him as he walked, as if he had gone into a state of depression. Though, he ended up skating backward before doing a back flip. In a sense, it was as if he was fighting an unseen enemy. Something that only he could see.

_I had been led astray  
With no hope to be found  
My heart withered away  
And I fell to the ground_

Naruto soon fell to his knees and fell onto his side, only to fall onto his back as he plucked the strings of his guitar. Staring up at the sky as if he was in a daze. Closing his eyes, Naruto could picture that day already. This movement was almost like when he had lost his father… the more he thought about it, the more pain entered his heart but the more he knew… he would have to let go.

_Then I heard a voice within the blowing of the wind_

Using his shoulders, Naruto lifted his leg to help him get some momentum as his shoulders helped to push himself back up onto his feet without the help of his arms since, he was holding and playing his guitar. Naruto gave everyone a smirk as if this song itself, had given him the strength to get over his past but, at the same time drained him, for his smile was bright but his eyes were weary.

_Please let me show you the pain  
My scars have made me obtain  
Before the weight of the world  
Comes crashing down on my shoulders_

Naruto just stared out at the crowd, as if hoping that they would understand that scars, like the one he had on his face could mean so much. The one he received was from protecting what was dear to him. Some scars are like that, to be a reminder of good things, bad things… it doesn't matter but the scar that can cover the body would be a reminder.

_Do you remember the time  
Our tears fell down from the sky_

Throwing his head back, Naruto tried to stop the flow of tears from falling down his cheeks. Hoping that his tears would just dry up and go away. He didn't need right now… he didn't want to keep crying. Naruto knew that crying never solved anything but actions did.

_Someday soon when I'm gone  
Never think that I'll neglect you  
For the pain that I've  
Sealed away in your heart will protect you_

Naruto hoped that he would never neglect anyone… That was something that he never wanted to do. He would make sure that if he ever held someone close to his heart that he would never neglect them… he would protect that person for the rest of his life so long as they would have him in their life. That was all he wanted from that person… was to have him in their life.

_Can you hear me, so am I_

_Although I've blocked all of my feelings  
Even the ones caused by being kind  
Every now and then I hear a voice  
Inside me seem to cry_

Naruto tilted his head as if he could hear someone calling out to him. Was someone calling out to him? He wasn't sure at the moment but at the moment he didn't care, all he cared about was getting this song done and nothing was going to stop him. That was for sure. Looking at the crowd, he wondered if they could sense that he was crying within his heart… his heart and soul were crying out for something…

_Like when you undo  
A button from its hole  
My bitter torment drew  
My body from my soul_

Naruto gave the crowd a frown, closing his eyes Naruto tried to focus on the rest of the song. He didn't think that he could focus on the crowd anymore. For some reason, he could feel something was going to happen. Something that would cause him to be exposed… but he wasn't sure what that was. But, he hoped that was all it was, just a feeling…

_So I'm crying out in hopes to fill my empty heart_

Smiling, Naruto swung his body and did an air cartwheel before he landed on his feet, and slowly fell to his knees as his body spun around in a circle. His knees soon touched the ground as he kept on playing…

_Please let me show you the pain  
My scars have made me obtain  
Before the weight of the world  
Comes crashing down on my shoulders_

Naruto remained on his knees, not wanting to stand up. Feeling like the weight would really come crashing down on his shoulders crushing him in the process. Sasuke and Sakura just stared at him as they played their instruments wondering if Naruto was okay… but, they weren't really sure if he was alright at the moment…

_Do you remember the time  
Our tears fell down from the sky_

Smiling, Naruto spun the other way he had first started before coming down onto his knees and started to rise once more. His smile bright and radiant, that anyone could smile. Even the grumpiest of men. His smiles sure were contiguous that was for sure.

_Someday soon when I'm gone  
Never think that I'll neglect you  
For the pain that I've  
Sealed away in your heart will protect you_

Lifting his hand, Naruto placed his open palm onto his heart, as if the part that he would protect would be the heart. For the heart was the most precious part of a person. Without the heart of someone, they would be nothing. There would be nothing for them, nothing of them. They wouldn't feel, they would be dead inside until their beating heart would stop…

_Can you hear it?  
Can you feel it?  
Can you hear me?  
Can you hear me?_

_Can you hear me?  
Can you hear me?  
Can you hear me?  
So am I_

_I have finally found  
All of the heartbroken moans  
That I keep hearing sound  
Are from my voice alone_

_And I've done this all for this one moment here with you_

Naruto moved his hand from his heart and held it outward. Giving a soft smile, the young man tried to let his emotions out but… it just seemed that no matter how hard he tried that his heart just wouldn't allow that to happen. It was as if he had his emotions under a strong lock and key that no one could ever open. Was that even possible?

_I'm sure that right from the start  
You always knew in your heart  
That I'd always be the one  
That you could count on to care for you_

Naruto gave a smile before turning his head away from the crowd. His eyes shining with emotional pain. Could he really be counted on to be there for someone? For anyone? He didn't know, and didn't know if would ever know for that matter.

_I have been leading you to  
The sign that I left for you  
Someday soon when I'm gone  
Never think that I'll neglect you_

Pushing himself away from the center of the stage, Naruto almost looked like he was going to roll off of the stage. Only to spin and start rolling the other way, backward of course. It was as if he was growing board with just standing around and doing nothing.

_If you will follow the pain  
That through me you have obtained  
There is nothing in this world  
That will be able to hurt you_

Spinning in a circle once more, Naruto had his head tilted back as if he didn't see the crowd anymore. Instead, a face entered his mind. A face that he remembered when he was a kid. Hinata's… no matter how old he got, he would always remember… least, now he would since his memories stopped disappearing when he was in that fight. Smiling, a little bit, he took a deep calming breath as he went back to the song.

_But don't forget all the things  
That bring out your smiling_

No, he wouldn't forget again. He would always hold Hinata close to his heart. After all, she was his best friend. Smiling to himself, Naruto turned back to the crowd and started to play the guitar… he stopped moving after that and just started to feel what the music would bring him.

_Someday soon when I'm gone  
Never think that I'll neglect you  
Someday soon when I'm gone  
Never think that I'll neglect you  
For the pain that I've  
Sealed away in your heart will protect you_

When he meets that special someone… he would always protect her. He would make sure that she is never neglected and that she knew that she was loved. Each and every day, he would love that girl no matter the cost.

_Can you hear me  
Can you hear me  
Can you hear me  
So am I_

* * *

When the concert was done, Naruto started to walk on back to his room that was behind the stage to relax with everyone. Frowning in confusion, the young man tried to think on what he was to do for relaxing this time. Crossing his arms, the young man tried to think, tried to figure out what he was to do… Sighing, he could faintly hear Sasuke and Sakura chatter about a date that they were going to do for it.

Naruto knew that again, he would be by himself once again. Yawning, the young man kept on walking toward the back room, only to be surprised by someone knocking on the door before he even got in. He couldn't see who it was… all he could see was that it was a woman based from the clothes and the figure. She had long blue hair that reached her knees… he didn't think anyone would grow hair that long… then again, he shouldn't be talking.

As for her clothes, he could see that she wore a black shirt that reached just a little above her knees. Black nylons and black heeled shoes. A black dress shirt with white cuffs, the sleeves of her shirt reached a little past her elbows.

"Can I help you?" asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow at her. The woman turned around, and what he saw made his eyes widen for a moment. Her skin was a little pale but that only made her beauty glow. Her eyes were a beautiful lavender, something that you could easily get lost into if you stared into them long enough. He saw her before… he knew he has…

"Yes, I… um… I'm looking for a Mr. Umaki…"

"I'm Umaki, how can I help you?"

"I… I was wondering if you'd like to sign up with the Namikaze Corperation…"

Naruto narrowed his eyes before he walked toward the woman and tightly held her arm. "I won't sign up with that company thank you. I don't know why you thought I'd go to that place for anything. Leave." Naruto said, his eyes narrowed into slits as he tried to ignore who this woman reminded him of. There was no way that it could be her.

Though, what he hadn't counted on was for the woman to gasp in shock when staring at his neck. "That… that necklace… where did you get it?" she whispered softly, reaching out for the necklace. Acting quickly, Naruto grabbed his necklace and tucked it into his shirt. "There is no way that you should have it… only… wait." She looked up at Naruto for a moment, squinting her eyes as if trying to figure him out or something.

Staring at her for a moment, the young man tried to think on why she was looking at him like that. Could she be planning something that would get him to join with his father's company? What she had said next shocked Naruto to his very core. "Naruto? Is… is that you? You're… You're alive…"

"I don't know who you're talking about." Naruto said before turning his head away. Taking a deep breath, the young man said "look, just leave. I'm not this Naruto person you think I am. My name is Oturan…"

"No… I know you're Naruto!" Reaching up to his face, her hands started to glow blue as if reacting to the make-up that covered his face. When her hands dusting his cheeks his whisker marks were revealed. Naruto pushed her away as he told her to just go away. But she just didn't want to leave! "I know you're Naruto! I just know you are!" Rolling his eyes, Naruto started to walk away. Sasuke and Sakura were staring at their band mate with confusion, trying to figure out what was wrong with him, and why he had those whisker marks on his face.

"I can prove that you're Naruto!" she shouted.

_"Darkness of white  
You can through the sadness take your flight  
And become the wings  
That pierce the veil  
Spreading strong and true tonight."_

Naruto stopped for a moment. Listening to the woman sing. No, there is no way that it could be… But, the song. Only one other person knew about this song besides himself. He turned his head and looked over his shoulder a bit, his bangs covering his eyes before he sang the other part of this song…

_"Brought into the light at last  
By the cold exposing sun.  
I was granted freedom tamed  
To become the chosen one.  
Through the mirror,  
Night reflected;  
Miraculous to see!  
My soul threw away the mask  
That hides the deeper me.  
Breaking the dark of night,  
Piercing through the painted white.  
Cut it all away  
From yesterday  
'Til an new era's in sight.  
Unlock the heart within,  
Let it spread its wings and soar.  
Rising up in flight  
Through the night of white  
And fly on forever more!"_

When the song was finished, Naruto turned around and stared at her with wide eyes. The woman stared at him with a soft blush on her face. He remembered that, his friend blushed all the time when he was so close to her. But, was this really…? No, it couldn't but… the song. Her recognizing the necklace that had been made for him. When he had a closer look, Naruto could faintly make out the necklace that held the symbol of his mother's clan. It… it was her… it really was…

"Hinata…"


	10. Love Will Find A Way

_I couldn't believe it… all this time Hinata… I don't know what to really say, only that I had a lot of explaining to do to my friends. They knew that I've been lying to them for ten years now. That would be a long time to anyone. It wasn't that I didn't trust them with the secret, but it was more like I didn't trust myself. Maybe they would understand on why I didn't tell them about my past._

_Though, this could go better than I think. Least, I'm hoping it would at the very least._

Naruto couldn't believe that Hinata was here… well, she was… Taking a deep breath, Naruto ran a hand through his hair as he tried to keep his nerves calm. But, the thought of spending a day with Hinata made butterflies flutter around in his stomach. It made the young man blush softly at the thought.

"Okay Oturan, tell us what the hell is going on?" demanded Sasuke, when they had arrived back to their home Naruto did promise to tell them what had happened. Well, he did after making plans with Hinata for tomorrow. This was going to be painful that was for sure. When he turned to stare at Sakura, he could easily see that she was just as angry, not that he couldn't blame them since he had been lying to them for what? Ten years?

Sitting down on the arm chair, Naruto looked up at them as he said "my name isn't Oturan Umaki. It's Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki." He saw them just staring right at him, expecting a little more about the past that they didn't know about. Taking a deep breath, he calmly said "I was to take over my father's company but something had happened."

"What?"

"I don't want to really say what it was. But let's say… I wanted to run away." Pushing himself up, Naruto went to his room, least he tried to. Sakura grabbed Naruto's arm before he could get away. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto growled out "let go of me Sakura. I don't have time for this."

When Sakura stared at him, Naruto saw horror in her eyes. When he stared at her eyes, he could clearly see his reflection. His eyes had gone crimson with black slits. Turning away, he felt Sakura loosen her grip on him before he started to walk away. Damn, he hadn't thought that his eyes would change if he was angry…

Did Kurama do something to his DNA or something to make him into what? Some kind of half-demon? Shaking his head, the young man lied down on his bed, trying to think on where he could take Hinata tomorrow for their get together. It would be nice to be able to spend some time with her again… it almost made him think of the good old days. When life was full of light instead of darkness.

Shaking his head, the young man tried to think on what they could do. There was just so many things that they could do! But, would he be able to think of something that would be nice that they could do…? Rubbing his eyes, the young man was trying to think on things that Hinata might find interesting, but that seemed harder than it seemed.

Sighing, Naruto turned over onto his side and just stared at the wall. _'What is Hinata into now? Does she still collect stuffed animals? Does she still like to make songs for herself?'_ Naruto didn't know what to think, but maybe… he should ask her where she would like to go. It only seemed fair, since he hadn't seen her in so long. Life was a strange thing that was for sure.

Blinking slowly, Naruto took out his hair tie and let his hair free. Having his hair in a ponytail for as long as he has, has been giving him a headache. Well, that, and the fact that he still couldn't come up with something for them to do. Yawning, Naruto flipped over and lied on his stomach. His face buried in his pillow, mind starting to fade as he was slowly fading into the world of dreams. _'Will I ever think of something for us to do…?' _thought Naruto before his eyes drifted closed.

* * *

Taking a deep breath, Naruto was running around his room trying to get himself ready. But, it seemed that he was more along the lines of panicking instead. He wasn't supposed to pick up Hinata at her hotel till around five, and it was already four in the afternoon. He only had an hour to get himself ready and now he felt like he was paying the price for it.

He managed to have a shower, shave, brush his hair and tie it back. Though, he hadn't been able to find anything to wear so right now… he was running around his room in nothing but a robe. Frowning, Naruto knew that he couldn't wear what he normally wears like if he was going to perform. Tugging at his hair, Naruto thought that maybe it was just a bad idea to have asked Hinata to hang out with him; after all she might not be the same girl he knew ten years ago. But…

_'My heart beats so fast when I think of her…'_ thought Naruto when he placed his hand over his heart, feeling the small thumping in his chest. Taking a deep breath, the young man was trying to get himself to calm down. His nerves were shot; he wasn't sure for the time being. Rubbing his forehead with a shaky hand, the young man tried to get himself to relax, but that was harder than it sounded.

Shaking his head, Naruto went through his closet and threw a random set of clothes onto his bed. He knew that he would have to just accept the fact that he might as well just hope that he would be able to just find something that worked.

When he looked back at his bed, he couldn't help but frown. He had bought this outfit a year ago and never wore it. Maybe now was as good a chance as any. Taking a deep breath, the young man picked up the white shirt and threw it on. Doing up the buttons, only leaving the top two undone. Looking at the sleeves, Naruto frowned thinking that it was a little weird for him to wear a long sleeved shirt… even if he wore jackets all the time it was still weird for him. Shaking his head, the young man rolled up the sleeves just above his elbows.

Looking at his pants, he saw that they resembled black jeans. Though, a little more loose instead. Shrugging, he grabbed his boxers and slid them on before throwing his jeans on. Frowning, Naruto noticed that the waist was too big on him. Sighing, he held up his pants and went to his closet trying to find a good belt that would work for him. Rummaging through his closet, the young man wasn't sure if he would be able to find anything that would work for him. Since, he very rarely used a belt in the first place. "Damn it, I need a belt!" shouted Naruto before he heard someone knocking on his door.

Grumbling, he walked over to the door and opened it. He was a little confused as to why he saw Sasuke standing there. "Hey dope, need a belt?" muttered Sasuke before holding up a strange piece of cloth. It was long that was for sure but it was too thing to be a headband. Shrugging, he took the cloth, thanking his best friend before closing his door and looping the cloth through the belt loops before tying it into a bow.

Looking over on his bed, Naruto saw a black headband with an orange swirl in the center, which would complete his look maybe with the jacket. Shrugging, he tied it around his head before grabbing his long black jacket and threw it on. Walking over to the mirror, Naruto crossed his arms and turned to the side a few times as if hoping that this would work for him. _'Why am I so concerned with how I look for Hinata?' _thought Naruto with confusion, causing him to shake his head and walk over to his bed to put on his socks and his black boots. It was better to just leave and ask Hinata what she would like to do… it… it only made sense that she gets to choose and he pays for everything right?

As he walked out of his bedroom, the living room and just out of the building all together he tried to think on what Hinata would think. Or what she would wear for tonight. Would she like spending time with him? He didn't feel like he was the same guy ten years ago. Maybe… maybe she would like this new version of himself like she liked the version of himself ten years ago. Least he could hope for that.

Shaking his head, Naruto could feel his hair swaying from side to side from the movement… it almost felt like a whip to him but for now… he was happy with it for now. Though, it made him wonder if his long hair would look good blonde instead of red. Frowning, Naruto had to shake this worries from his mind. Right now, he had to make sure that Hinata had the time of her life, and he was going to make sure of that no matter what!

* * *

Gulping, Naruto reached Hinata's hotel room and tried to get himself to calm down. But, the more he thought about spending the night with her outside… it made him nervous. Though, he wasn't sure why that was. Shaking his head wildly, Naruto knew that he would have to man up and knock on the door! _'Come on Naruto; all you have to do is knock on her door. Just relax! You've known Hinata for ten years of your life! She is a friend, she is a friend… she is a friend… she's beautiful… UGH WHY DID I THINK THAT!?'_

Blushing softly, Naruto lifted his hand and started to knock on the wooden oak door. If he was lucky, she would answer and they could hurry up and leave without him looking or acting like a total idiot. His eyes tightly shut, trying to think nothing more than clean thoughts but it almost seemed that his brain hated him and wanted to torment him.

When he heard the door open, Naruto slowly opened his eyes trying to stare at Hinata… his vision had blurred from having his eyes tightly shut but when it cleared… he just couldn't believe what he was seeing.

In front of him, was a goddess.

Hinata stood before Naruto, her hair down with two locks framing her beautiful face. He could faintly see silver earrings shaped like a leaf on each ear. Around her neck was the necklace that he made for her as a child, though it was on a silver chain instead of a gold one like his. Looking a little further down, he saw that she wore a lavender coloured dress. It of course was sleeveless but it clung to every curve of her body. Around her waist was a belt that well… to him looked more like a normal piece of cloth. But what he also noticed that was around her waist was a pattern of flower blossoms starting around her left waist flowing downward in a circular motion just ending at the hem of the dress which, only reached above her knees. To finish off her outfit was a pair of black sandals.

He's never seen a more beautiful woman in his entire life.

Gulping, he scratched the back of his head as he asked "you ready to go Hina-chan?" He had forgotten that he used to call her that. Maybe it was because it had been so long since he had called her that. But, least he hadn't completely forgotten about it.

"Of course I'm ready Naru-kun." She said with a smile before turning around and locking her hotel room and leaving with Naruto. Maybe he could have a good night after all. Though, as they walked Naruto could tell that Hinata was a little tense about this… not that he could blame her. They haven't seen each other for so long it was as if that they were strangers rather than best friends.

Meanwhile, two people have been following them. Sasuke and Sakura had been following their band leader the whole time. Wanting to make sure that the date would go great or terrible. But, at the same time they didn't want to lose their band leader. Thinking that if anything was to happen to make this date go as planned that they would lose Naruto. "Would he really leave Sasuke?" Sakura asked from the bushes.

"I'm not sure Sakura, but just in case we'll have to keep watch. You'll never know… Maybe it'll go wrong and we can all go on as if nothing had ever happened. That she never came into Naruto's life." Sasuke calmly said while he watched his red haired friend though a pair of binoculars.

There was no way that this date could go well. After all, Naruto never dated before. He had even said that 'I don't want to get close to anyone, for it only leads to pain'. Whatever he meant by that, he'll never know and neither would Sakura. He just didn't trust anyone with that knowledge in the least. But, Sasuke was sure that he would be able to find out at some point, it couldn't be that bad. Jumping down from the tree, Sasuke hid in the bushes with his girlfriend and followed Naruto and the blue haired woman.

Nothing was going to interfere… that was for sure. Least, he was going to try without being caught.

As for Naruto and Hinata, the young man was trying to think on what to say. They had been quite for a while and it was starting to get a little annoying. Least, it was for Naruto. Taking a deep breath, he stared at Hinata as he asked "how's my mother?"

"Kushina is fine… she's still upset over your father's death. Though, she also thinks that you're dead too." Hinata whispered softly, unable to look up at him. Naruto tried to process that through. His mother thought that… he was dead? That can't be right… there is no way that they could prove that he died. "Orochimaru told us about the fight that happened ten years ago."

"What… what else did he say?" asked Naruto, afraid of what she was going to say.

"Just said that with you and your father dead he was to run the company. My father couldn't sadly… we're not sure why."

Was it because he didn't marry Hinata? Sure they were young but still… if he wasn't there to take over for his father wouldn't have Hiashi taken over instead of Orochimaru? He was confused on that that was for sure. Taking a deep breath, Naruto smiled at Hinata as he asked "what would you like to do Hinata? You pick, and I'll pay."

Hinata looked up at Naruto with confusion in her beautiful lavender coloured eyes, only for her bright smile to appear. That smile of hers… Naruto felt the blush rushing to his cheeks and his heart beating so quickly and rapidly that it might burst free from his chest. How could Hinata have such an effect on him already? Gulping, he slowly wrapped his shaky arm around her waist and pulled her close to his side to help keep her warm. Looking away, he whispered "it's chilly… I… I'll keep you warm."

Hinata smiled as she said "Naruto… you know what I would love to do?" She looked up at him and smiled a little bit. Naruto stared at her with confusion in his beautiful ocean blue eyes. Trying to find out what she would want to do. "I… I want to sing and dance. Like when we were kids. Remember?" He couldn't help but smile at that. Even after all this time… she still loved to sing and dance. Who knew that the habit they both got… would still be so strong even after all this time.

"Would you care to start Hinata?" he whispered in a soft voice. He gently grabbed her one hand, keeping his arm around her waist. Hinata blushed softly and just smiled gently. Naruto didn't want this to end. Even if it was only the beginning of their outing… it just felt like there was a special atmosphere… just for them.

Hinata:  
_In a perfect world  
One we've never known  
We would never need to face the world alone_

Naruto smiled, her voice was that of an angel and a goddess mixed into one. Holding her close to his chest, Naruto never knew that she would be so… well developed. Blushing softly, the young man tried to keep his thoughts clean. Right now was a time to be happy, not to be a pervert like he normally was. Taking a deep breath, the young man gently swayed to Hinata's beautiful voice.

_They can have the world  
We'll create our own  
I may not be brave or strong or smart  
But somewhere in my secret heart_

Hinata laid her head on Naruto's chest, listening to his heart beating in his chest. The woman in his arms… he couldn't believe that this was the same girl he knew as a child. Blushing softly, Naruto took a deep breath and held her a little closer to his chest.

They moved gently to the music, as if the music was a reflection of their lives. That something so pure couldn't be tainted. Holding onto her hand a little tighter, Naruto dipped the blue haired woman, her hair brushing the green grass that was beneath them. Hinata smiled, just enjoying this time she had with Naruto.

_I know  
Love will find a way  
Anywhere I go  
I'm home  
If you are there beside me_

Pulling her back to her feet, Naruto placed his hands on her hips, his forehead leaning into hers. He didn't know if this feeling in his chest was what he thought it was. Closing his eyes, he just listened to what this blue haired and lavender eyed woman sang in her beautiful voice. Was this meant to be? Was he meant to have feelings for Hinata?

Was his heart to be beating like this? Like how he could have lived as long as he had without this woman in his life.

_Like dark turning into day  
Somehow we'll come through  
Now that I've found you  
Love will find a way_

He could feel Hinata's small hands sliding up his chest until they fell on his shoulders. Frowning softly, Naruto slowly opened his eyes and stared at Hinata's concerned eyes. She felt the same. She was just as confused as he was, about this feeling in her own heart. But, the words that she sang… must have been words that her heart wanted to say.

Naruto:  
_I was so afraid  
Now I realize  
Love is never wrong  
And so it never dies_

All Naruto could do was whisper to her. The words that he sang to her were words of truth. He had been afraid, afraid of her hating him if she knew the truth. The reason for him leaving. But, even the more he thought about it… he knew what these feelings in his heart were. These words that were floating around in his heart were words that he's known from the moment he first saw Hinata… even when he was a baby… he knew… but just couldn't admit these words were swimming around within him.

There's a perfect world  
Shining in your eyes

Both:  
And if only they could feel it too  
The happiness I feel with you

Pulling his forehead away from hers, Naruto lifted his hand and placed it upon her cheek. Rubbing his thumb along her soft and beautifully pale skin. Giving a soft smile he sang these true words. To him, the perfect world wasn't the world around them, but within her eyes. He was happy… for the first time in his life, he was happy to be this close to Hinata.

They'd know  
Love will find a way  
Anywhere we go  
We're home  
If we are there together

Removing his hand from her cheek, the red haired man gently lifted her hand again and smiled as he swayed with her to the music that they both sang. To him, his home was with Hinata; so long as she stayed with him he bet that he could always be happy. Maybe, just maybe that he could be happy. Naruto smiled and stared at Hinata with soft and gentle eyes as they sang.

_Like dark turning into day  
Somehow we'll come through  
Now that I've found you  
Love will find a way_

Dipping her once more, Naruto gave her a brighter smile. One that was full of love. A love that Naruto was sure that had disappeared when he became a new person. When he had erased his old persona and gained a new one. Taking a deep breath, Naruto gently pulled Hinata back to stand on her feet and wrapped his arms around her leaning closer to her with his eyes half closed.

_I know love will find a way_

Once the song was done, Naruto leaned into Hinata, as she did with him. Naruto thought _'I can't believe I'm going to do this but…'_ his lips soon made contact with Hinata's. Her lips so soft, so inviting… he loved each and every moment he had in this kiss. Holding her tighter in his arms, he went on with his thoughts… _'But I love Hinata Hyuuga so much…'_

Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura had seen and heard the whole thing. Sasuke sighed before walking away with his pink haired girlfriend. "He's doomed." Whispered Sakura before she and Sasuke left.


	11. Going Back

_I believed in many things. Music being a part of the heart and soul, someone finding that special someone that is their missing half. And so much more. But what I hadn't thought I'd believe in, were ghosts. That's right, I said ghosts._

After their first kiss, Naruto and Hinata walked around, Naruto had his arm wrapped gently around her waist. Sighing softly, the young man smiled softly. For the first time in ten years he was happy… right now, his life was perfect that was for sure. Though, he couldn't help but notice that Hinata has been quite the entire time. But why? Was something on her mind that she wanted to say or was she just unsure as to what to say?

"Hina-chan, what's wrong?" asked Naruto as they stopped over a bridge.

Hinata looked up at Naruto and gave a soft smile. "It's as if you were brought back from the dead… just for me. You don't know how much I missed you Naruto. I kept having nightmares…" She frowned softly before turning her head away from him. "Nightmares of you screaming for help… calling out to me but I just couldn't get to you."

He had no idea that his disappearance had caused her so much pain. Looking away in shame, Naruto tried to think on what he could say to make it up to her… though no matter what he just couldn't think of anything that he could say or do to make it up to her in the least. The young man had no idea that he had caused so much pain to Hinata… Turning back to her, he whispered "I'm so sorry Hinata; I never meant to hurt you."

"I'm just happy that you're alive Naru-kun." Hinata said with a soft and gentle smile. That smile of hers made the blood rush to his face, creating a soft pink to tint his cheeks.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto looked over the bridge and into the water that flowed below them. He could see his reflection perfectly… his red hair looked lighter to him for some reason though. The more he looked at his reflection the young man wondered if he could have a peaceful life now that he had Hinata in his life. Right now, it just seemed too good to be true.

"Naruto… please, come back with me."

"No."

"But why?"

"I can't go back Hinata. It's hard to explain but I have my reasons for never going back." Naruto whispered, his eyes closed as he tried to repress the memories… the blood, the gun shot, the tears and the pain. All of it, he wanted to forget it all but no matter what he just couldn't seem to forget no matter how hard he tried.

Frowning, Hinata gently grabbed her hand as she said "Naruto, please you have to come back. You're the only one that can help everyone." He didn't answer, his eyes still closed. There was no way that he could go back. Life couldn't be that bad right? Sure Orochimaru is an ass but… it just can't be that bad. "Naruto, no one is allowed to quit. We work almost all day long barely getting any sleep or time at home. All our clients have left us and… if we leave or quit he'll make sure that no one can get a job. It's hell for us Naruto."

"I'm not going back Hinata."

"Why? If you love me you'll come back and help not just me, but everyone. You're mother included."

"Why? What's wrong with my mother besides her grieving over my father?" Naruto said, trying to keep himself calm. But, he knew that it was harder than it sounded with Kurama's main power being controlled by anger.

"Orochimaru is trying to get her to marry him."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. The snake was… trying to get his mother to _marry_ him?! Growling, he said "damn it… I still can't go back Hinata. Besides, my mother won't marry him. If she still loves my dad, there is no way that she'll marry that snake." Naruto was sure of that, his mom wouldn't marry Orochimaru. There was just no way would that happen.

"Naruto… do you love me?"

"Of course I do."

"Then please come back with me?!"

"Damn it Hinata, I can't."

"Why?!"

"I can't. I… I just can't okay? Besides what about you, you left."

Hinata frowned and looked away. Naruto wasn't sure but he had a feeling that he pushed way too many buttons with her feelings. But he couldn't help that, there was no way that he was going to go back to his old life. That was something he was trying to get away from. "I was ordered to come here to sign you up. You're the only hope we have now. You can save everyone… you only have to come back with me." Whispered Hinata with tears in her eyes when she looked up at him.

Turning away, he whispered "I'm sorry Hinata. But I cannot go back. Not for what I've done." Before he could hear her ask him what he had meant, Naruto ran off. He had to get away, damn it why did she have to make him feel so damn guilty? As if he didn't feel guilty enough as it was. Just thinking about what she had said made his stomach hurt like hell. Guilt was a powerful thing that was for sure.

As soon as he felt that he was far enough, Naruto sighed and sat down under a tree. Trying to think of what path he should take. No matter what, he knows that he can't go back. But at the same time, he knew that he had to go back. Though he knew that he should do the right thing and help but… damn it he just couldn't. Burying his face in his knees, Naruto just wished that he could forget everything in his past just wouldn't leave him alone.

Sighing softly, Naruto tried to get himself to calm down. Maybe he was being stupid… he should go back and he knows that. His mother would never want to marry the snake, and he knew that he scared her as much as he scared Naruto. It was just common sense!

"What's the matter red?"

Blinking, Naruto lifted his head and stared at a tall man with long spiky white hair. He wore a green jacket with a red vest over it. Red hand guards, matching green pants with bandages around his ankles and red sandals. Around his forehead was some kind of metal forehead protector with steel horns on it. What else Naruto noticed, were the red lines under his eyes.

Who was this man?

"Who are you?"

"Just an old man taking a nice walk through the field."

Rolling his eyes, Naruto pushed himself up as he said "I'm just gonna go. Enjoy yourself old man." He started to walk away, wondering what the hell he was going to do though… it seemed that it didn't matter. Life was just complicated.

"Why you are like Minato."

Eyes widening, Naruto turned around and stared at the old man's grin. "Follow me." He then started to run off. Naruto ran after him, trying to figure out what the old man had said. Did he know his father? But if so, why hadn't he ever met this man before? Or, was it something else that had done it? Did he forget this man or maybe he just plain never met him in the first place.

The old man leaned against a tree writing something down in a note book. It made him wonder what he could be writing about… Shaking his head, Naruto looked at the white haired man as he asked "you knew my father?" Asked Naruto as he tried to figure this man out a little bit. Trying to place him, though it just seemed that no matter what he just couldn't think of anything to get him to think properly. This man was confusing to him for some reason.

The old man smirked as he said "you mean, I know your father."

"Hate to break it to you old man, but he died ten years ago."

"Nope, wrong Naruto."

"How do you know my name?"

"He's as alive as you and me. Follow me, and I'll show you. Also… my name is Jiraiya." With that, the old man ran off. Naruto called out to him, hoping he would wait up at the very least. He had to admit, this guy was fast. Did he train with weights too? That would be the only thing that would make sense to him. Shaking his head, Naruto kept on following the old man; he had to figure out how his father was still alive.

For, the more he thought about it the more it made him wonder about the facts. There was no way that his father could be alive. He was dead; his skin was cold when he last saw him. Even Hinata had said that he was dead… he was _buried_ for crying out loud.

Jumping through the trees, Naruto tried to get through that way. Maybe if he was lucky, he would get in front of the old man before it was too late. Before he could see his father again. He didn't think that he could face him again. After all, he was to blame for what had happened all those years ago. Shaking his head, Naruto knew that at some point he had to shake those thoughts from his mind, he had to think on his future but no matter what he just couldn't get over the pain.

Grabbing some veins, he saw as the old man ran into the forest on the ground, while he was up above. It made Naruto wonder how this guy could get through so easily. There was no way that could be possible. Come on, this guy was fast but even this old man had to have his limits!

Jumping from the tree branch, Naruto landed on the ground and ran after the old man, since it didn't seem as dense as it was right now. Frowning, he yelped when one of the branches had grabbed his hair. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto slashed at the branch with his chakra, though the chakra had made contact with his hair, turning a bit of it blonde. Damn… he didn't want his hair to be blonde again.

Shaking his head, the young man kept on running after Jiraiya. He had to catch up or risk falling too far behind. Taking a deep breath, Naruto pumped chakra into his legs, increasing his speed. He had to keep going, had to catch up… had to see this for himself if his father was alive or not. Maybe, he could get over his past if he saw his father… maybe; this was the first step for him…

"Stop." The old man suddenly said, holding up his hand. Naruto skidded just stopping mere centimeters from his palm. Jiraiya smiled softly before moving a few leaning branches to show a small cave. "In here…" he said softly, almost as if his father was asleep. Why would his father be in here?

Frowning, Naruto slowly started to walk into the cave, looking around trying to see if he would find any trace of his father. The deeper he got, the lighter it got. As if this were more of a tunnel, rather than a cave.

When he was able to get to the other side, Naruto frowned when he saw that it was an open lake with fire flies dancing around. Water lilies floating in the water and many kinds of flowers around the lake almost like a beautiful flower crown. But… why hasn't anyone noticed this place before? Frowning, he looked around some more and didn't see his father. "Look down." Said the old man, which Naruto listened too. Looking down, he frowned, raising a hand to his face and tilted his head. His reflection coping him.

"You trying to cool me old man!" shouted Naruto, staring at Jiraiya with a glare. Was he trying to trick him, making him think that his father had somehow survived! Giving him the hope that… that he would be forgiven for what had happened. "That isn't my father, that's just my fucking reflection!"

"Look harder Naruto."

Frowning, Naruto turned around and looked down and stared at his reflection. Frowning, he tried to stare harder. The water started to ripple as did his reflection. When he stared at his reflection, he saw the changes from the rippling water. The hair started to turn blonde, the whisker marks faded from his face…

When the water started to calm, staring back at him was his father. Minato's face looked back up at him with a serious expression. "He lives within you Naruto." Whispered Jiraiya. Tilting his head, Naruto tried to get those words sorted up. His father lives… within him? How was that possible? Was his father's will within him or something? Or was it something else?

_"Naruto…"_

Blinking, Naruto looked up and stared at the starry sky. The clouds started to circle the sky above him. Swirling, twisting, forming the body of his father. The clouds started to turn into different colours, the colours that Naruto could remember his father wore on that day… Minato stared down at his son with sad eyes. _"Naruto… why haven't you gone back…"_

"I couldn't! I just couldn't go back after what happened to you father…" called out Naruto, trying to get over the fact that his father was speaking to him, his father's spirit.

Shaking his head, Minato stared at Naruto for a moment as if trying to figure his son out. Naruto frowned, wondering what his father was going to say. _"Naruto, you have to stop running from your past. You are not being the boy I raised… I raised you, to help those in need. And here you are Naruto… hearing that those dear to you need help and you refuse to go…"_ Naruto looked away, ashamed that his father was right. He had been raised to help those in need and… he refused to help his mother and those from his past.

"Dad, I'm not who I used to be." Whispered Naruto.

_"That, is a lie Naruto and you know it. You are my son; you have the will of fire within you Naruto. Don't let it burn out, and help those in need Naruto."_ Minato said with a smile before he started to fade. _"Remember Naruto… help those in need." _Naruto called out to his father, trying to catch up. Calling out to him to stop, but no matter what he just couldn't keep up with his father. Frowning, Naruto tripped and fell over into the water. Sputtering water, he swam back to shore, looking back at his reflection and saw that his hair was blonde… not just patches but, his whole head, all of his hair was blonde once more. Staring with wide eyes, Naruto couldn't believe it…

"Do you see Naruto… your father still lives. He lives within you… so long as you hold his memories and will within you." Said Jiraiya with a soft smile. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out a scroll and handed it to Naruto. "Read this, and you'll learn something that just may help you."

"Thanks Jiraiya… I have to admit… I did learn something." Naruto couldn't help but laugh softly. "I cannot stop running from my past, no matter what… My past is my past and I cannot run from it." He chuckled for a moment before he started to run off. "I'm gonna go back!" shouted Naruto to the old man and laughed softly.

He was going to go back to his father's company. And help those in need. Nothing was going to change things anymore, from now on, Naruto wasn't going to let his past haunt him. He was going to make sure that he gets over this past no matter what.


	12. Truth

_I'm going back and nothing is going to stop me. I'm not going to let the past get to me anymore; it's as simple as that. Just the thought of this, of going home and seeing my mother again made me over joyed. But, I know that it'll still be hard for me to get over what had happened but it doesn't hurt to try._

Naruto ran as fast as he could back to the house. He knew what he had to do, and nothing was going to stop him. Though, he knew that it was wrong that he didn't go back to the bridge to check on Hinata but… right now, it was for the best that she stayed here where it was safe. There was no telling what would happen now…

Shaking his head, Naruto ran all the more toward the house, needing to get his car keys for his car right now!

As soon as he got into his home, Naruto rushed up the stairs taking at least three steps at a time hoping to get up there. He was driven by his desire to go back, to face his past. To save his mother from a horrible fate. Growling, Naruto got to his floor and slapped his palm on the door before charging inside. He ran past Sasuke and Sakura who were sitting in the living room.

"Naruto did you dye your hair?" asked Sakura with confusion.

"No."

"Then why are you blonde?"

"It's my natural hair colour, long story." Said Naruto as he ran to his room looking for his keys. He had to hurry up and get out of here before they ask him where he's going. Right now, he didn't want them to get involved, figuring that they're already mad at him as it was for him lying all these years. Not that he didn't blame them for being angry about him hiding who he was. Anyone would get angry if they had found out that someone that had called them a friend had really been lying to their face for too long.

Finally, Naruto found his keys and ran out of his room… only for him to be blocked by four people. Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata and the old man were all standing in front of the door that would take him to the garage, where his car was. "What are you doing and… how the hell did you beat me here old man?" demanded Naruto with confusion.

"Jiraiya came here last night and told us that you were going back." Said Sakura with a frown.

"And, he told us that it would be suicide to go by yourself Naruto." Said Sasuke as he crossed his arms across his chest.

Naruto just frowned, least he was starting to get what they were saying… they wanted to- "Oh hell no! You are not coming with me! This is something I have to do alone!" shouted Naruto, his eyes flashing red for a moment, only to return to their ocean blue colour. He wouldn't let them get involved in his problems; he knew that if he did… there was no telling what would happen to them.

"Naruto, we're going with you no matter what you say." Hinata said with a soft smile on her face. He just stared at her with wide eyes; his face tinted a soft pink though he wasn't sure if he could turn her down on her request. "Naruto… we're your friends and we want to help you. You can't do this alone…" Naruto looked down, not sure if he could handle it if they got hurt because of him.

Looking up at the old man, asking once more how he got here. "I drove while you ran back here." Calmly said Jiraiya with a smile. Naruto wanted to hit this guy, he was way too cocky for his own good and that was saying something.

Frowning, Naruto said "but I have to do this myself. This is my problem, not yours." He had to get them to forget about this in the first place. There was no way that he was going to risk the lives of the innocents for even he, didn't know what could happen. For all he knew, he may end up getting sent to jail to have a death sentence… And that was something that he didn't want at the moment. "You're not going and that's that!" declared Naruto.

* * *

"I can't believe you did that Hinata." Said Naruto as he drove everyone to the company. Hinata had given him a kiss that Naruto knew that he would never forget in a hundred years. Damn it all, why did she have that much power over him? Shaking his head, Naruto just focused on the road, least Jiraiya didn't come with them.

Sasuke and Sakura sat in the back seat so they could chat about their future plans. Naruto though, wondered if there would even be a future for any of them for when they return to the company. Looking over at Hinata from the corner of his eye, he saw that she was nervous about going to the company. Though, he knew that she was mostly nervous because Orochimaru claimed that Naruto had 'died' with Minato, and because of that, if he thought that than everyone else did.

Placing his focus back on the road, Naruto knew that it would be a while until he was able to get back to the Namikaze Corporation though, he knew that when he sees it… he would be heart broken. If it's in the condition that Hinata had told him about… it was on its way to looking like the old building that was for sure. And if he saw that, the young man knew that it would break his heart. His father had worked on making the company and if it was in ruins… Naruto knew that he would kill Orochimaru. Even if he didn't want another death on his hands.

"Naruto, are you okay?" asked Hinata, her eyes shining her concerned along with her voice being laced with it.

"I'm fine Hinata… I'm just… I don't know what I'm thinking at the moment. I just feel like I'll hurt someone if the building is like the old one. Ya know… the one we went into when we were kids."

"What are you talking about Naruto?" asked Sasuke.

Sighing softly, Naruto knew that he would have to at least tell them this… "The scar on my face was something I received when I was a kid. I got it protecting Hinata from a kunai. I could have easily gotten this scar removed but… it serves me as a reminder… a reminder to protect what is dear to me. I almost forgot but right now, I have to face my past."

Least that was something they could know about.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto leaned back in his seat and just kept on driving on ahead. He was amazed that he knew the way back, since he had left in a train and fell asleep the first time. Frowning in confusion, the young man tried to think of something that would get his mind off of the worry that he knew that would be coming his way soon.

"So Naruto, if you were so rich… why didn't you use your money?" asked Sakura with confusion in her voice.

"I didn't want to be found. Though, when I went to check on my old account, I found out that it was closed. I'm guessing that with them thinking I'm dead they didn't see a point in keeping it open." Naruto explained which did make sense. With them thinking that he was dead, the account wouldn't be void and they would have to close it down. Since Hinata was the only other person to know about the account in the first place they would have to ask her about the pin number.

"Hey Naruto do something about your damn hair! It's whipping me back here!" shouted Sasuke, Naruto sighed softly. This was not what he had in mind when he bought an orange sports car. Reaching behind him, he grabbed his ponytail and asked Hinata to hold onto it so it wouldn't hit the poor teme anymore.

"Need I remind you all that I wanted to go alone in the first place." Came Naruto's dry reply before he shook his head and kept on driving on. Though, he knew that they would just give him some kind or retort about how they wanted to come because they're his friends. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all for them to come along. He could use the emotional support for, seeing it would be enough to cause him to fall over in despair.

"Dope, why don't you just cut your hair?" suggested Sasuke with a bored tone in his voice.

"Hey, I'll my hair later. Right now, we don't have the time for that. There is something going on in the building, I don't know how but… I can sense it." Naruto had whispered the last part mostly to himself, as if he didn't know why he could sense that in the least. Maybe it had something to do with Kurama's powers. He couldn't be a hundred percent sure.

Meanwhile, Hinata had been reading the scroll that Jiraiya had given to Naruto. Naruto had told her to read it since he hadn't had the time since he would be driving. Well, that and the fact that no one drove this car, but him. Naruto had caught a glimpse of the scroll and had read that his parents sealed Kurama within him not just to save him, but to use this power to protect those who could not protect themselves.

Sadly, he had no idea on how to control that power.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto kept trying to focus on the road, though it was a lot harder than it seemed for him today. Maybe it was because he was worried about his mother. That could be something that would distract him enough. Taking a deep breath, Naruto tried to clear his head… he had to focus on getting to the company. Hinata, Sasuke and Sakura were gonna help him, and he knew that they would never let him down.

Looking on ahead, Naruto felt his resolve starting to burn in his heart. He was going to go the company, save his mother… and kick Orochimaru's scrawny white ass outta there and nothing was going to stop him and that was a promise that he was going to take with him until he got that company back and bringing it back to its former glory.

And that was a promise that he intends to keep. That's for sure…

* * *

Looking up at the building, Naruto couldn't believe just how bad it looked. The building used to be well taken care of to the point where the walls were the purest of whites. Now, it was black as the night sky, some broken windows… some of the windows were cracked. From what he could also make out, the building had some graffiti on it; he couldn't make out what the words were sadly.

His hands tightened into tight fists, his nails had grown into claws for a moment digging into his palm. Blood started to drip from his palms as he said "Orochimaru… you'll pay." His eyes glowed red for a moment… his rage bubbling within his blood… at least, it was until Naruto felt someone grab his hand. Blinking, he turned and stared at Hinata's concerned and beautiful lavender coloured eyes.

"It'll be okay Naru-kun…" she whispered gently.

Nodding, Naruto looked back up the building and narrowed his eyes once more. "Hinata, you take Sasuke and Sakura inside. I'm going to make a grand entrance." And he was going to make it amazing for him to come back into the picture. So to speak, he would end up coming back to 'life' in a sense. When really he was just returning after ten years of running. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hands together, placing his other fingers on top the back of his hands but held up the index and middle fingers of his hands up as he focused chakra to his feet.

Smirking, Naruto opened his eyes and grinned before he headed off to the building. Hinata tried to call out to him before Sasuke covered her mouth. Naruto knew that so far, that there couldn't be any risks. If anyone screamed out his name than people would know that he was alive. Or that someone was crazy.

As he ran toward the building, Naruto pumped more chakra into his feet, hoping it would be enough to get him to run up the building. He had to hurry up and make sure that nothing ruined this moment for him. When he turned his head, he saw Sakura, Sasuke and Hinata running on inside so that was a plus at the least.

Soon, Naruto felt the bottom of his shoes hitting the wall and he felt himself walking up the wall. That was amazing; he kept on running up the building. He knew that this was a lot easier than he thought since this is the first time he's done this. Smirking, Naruto kept on running, feeling the wind in his long hair as it blew behind him. It was amazing that was for sure… he could feel the adrenaline flowing through his veins.

He was feeling quite a rush.

Taking a deep breath, the young man ran to the fifth floor and that was when he saw it. Yelping, he ducked below the tall windows and looked up into the room. Standing there was Orochimaru and another woman. Frowning, Naruto tilted his head as he tried to figure out who she was. Squinting his eyes, Naruto could faintly make out long red hair, a black business suit, though instead of pants there was a skirt… when he looked up, he saw a slightly rounded out face and stared with wide eyes.

_'No way… mom…'_ Naruto thought to himself in shock. His mother hadn't changed all that much, all he could make out were a few wrinkles around her eyes. Her eyes were filled with sadness and pain. Did he do this to her? From him being claimed to have died with his father? _'Mom… I'm so sorry…' _thought Naruto with a deep sadness that had caused his own adrenaline to fade.

"What's wrong Orochimaru?" whispered Kushina in a dull and emotionless tone. Naruto knew that she was still heartbroken over the death of his father. It had to be horrible over the death of her husband.

Naruto could hear Orochimaru laughing softly as he said "ah Kushina, beautiful Kushina… have you thought over my proposal?" So what Hinata said was true… Orochimaru had been trying to marry his mother. Ugh, that would make him his step father if his mother accepted it! Ugh! Just thinking about it made him sick to his stomach and that was enough to make him puke his guts out. Shaking his head at the thought, Naruto peeked through the window again.

"Orochimaru, my heart still belongs to Minato. He is the only man I'll ever love. I'm sorry but I'm turning it down."

_'Go mom!'_ thought Naruto with a smile, and a happy dance in his head. Why was it that Orochimaru was trying to marry his mother in the first place? Taking a deep breath, Naruto had to keep listening to what was going on or risk getting caught.

Orochimaru stood up from his chair and walked over to Kushina. "Now Kushina… you know that everyone has needs. As do you… come on, Minato cannot please you anymore. He's dead, and you don't have a child to carry on your bloodline. I, on the other hand am available… So why don't you…" He started to trace his hand up her arm and rubbed her shoulder. "Come and marry me… I wouldn't mind if you thought I was Minato."

"Shut up!" shouted Kushina as she slapped Orochimaru away from her and narrowed her brown eyes at him. "I won't marry again! Minato is my soul mate and I would rather die than marry you!" She shouted at him.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes as he said "that can be arranged Kushina!" he growled before wrapping his hands around her neck, trying to choke her to death.

Naruto's eyes went wide before he jumped up and crashed through the window. "Get away from her!" shouted Naruto as he charged at Orochimaru and tackled him before giving the snake man a swift punch to the face and went to check on his mother.

Orochimaru lifted his head and stared at Naruto in shock. "Minato?! But how?!"

Kushina weakly looked up and stared at Naruto for a moment. Her mind was a little hazy from being strangled but she smiled. "Minato… you're alive… I'm so, so happy…" she whispered softly.

"No, mom it's me… Naruto…" whispered Naruto before pulling his mother into a hug. Kushina stared at Naruto with wide eyes as tears started to fall. The young man held onto his mother a little more as he whispered "I'm so sorry mom. I wanted to come back sooner but I was afraid." Kushina held onto Naruto, and he knew that she was just happy to have him back. Not that he couldn't blame her; after all… he did just come back to her after so long.

"Ah Naruto… I'm happy to see that you're… alive." Orochimaru said the last part with a bit of a growl. Naruto knew, that he was pissed that he was around but why that was he couldn't be sure. Or maybe he was just shocked or surprised that he was here.

Pulling away from his mother, Naruto narrowed his eyes at Orochimaru and rose to his feet and stood before his mother. "Alright Orochimaru… give me one good reason not to kick your scrawny white ass out of this building." Naruto was beyond angry at this man, trying to kill his mother just because she was in love with his father still rather than him. Growling, Naruto said "you better stand down snake man, or else I'll have to beat you to a pulp."

Suddenly, Naruto heard the sounds of footsteps coming, a sure sign that the others were coming to join him. Orochimaru smirked as he said "now Naruto, I think I've been doing a wonderful job at owning this company."

Naruto flexed his hands hoping that he would keep himself from trying to kill this man. "This company doesn't belong to you. The company was to be passed down to me! And I'm back to take over this company. Now stand down."

Orochimaru laughed as he said "come on Naruto. We all know that you don't deserve to take over after what you did."

"That won't work Orochimaru. I'm a grown man, and I can easily kick your ass!"

"What's he talking about Naruto?" asked Hinata, confusion written all over his face. Naruto growled, trying to keep himself from telling the truth. Yeah, he knew… a certain part of him kept on telling him over and over again that he didn't deserve to own this company. But he couldn't be worse than what Orochimaru did to it!

Orochimaru laughed as he walked over toward Naruto, giving him a knowing stare as if he was about to share a great secret with Naruto. Which, he knew couldn't be any good. No, he already knew what it was that Orochimaru was hinting at. Narrowing his eyes, he said "tell them Naruto; tell them your dirty little secret won't you? The secret… of Minato's death."

Everyone in the room stared at Naruto with wide eyes. He knew that they have been curious as to how Minato died. But, he didn't trust himself not to break down if he told them. Fearing that if he said how his father died all those years ago.

It was something that he had been trying to run away from for the past ten years but even he knew… was that there was nothing that he could do to stop this fate from happening. This was his fate; he was to tell them wasn't he? He had to give them closure where they could finally find peace with Minato's death. Taking a deep breath, Naruto whispered "I killed him. I killed my own father."

There were sounds of gasps around the room; Naruto knew that they were all in shock hearing this. Kushina walked over to Naruto and took a hold of his hand. "It isn't true is it Naruto? Please, tell me that this is a cruel joke…"

Naruto couldn't look his mother in the eye. Knowing fully well that he would cry at the very sight of her own sadness in her expression. Taking a deep breath he nodded as he said "it's true mom. Dad died because of me."

"He admits to killing Minato! He is to pay the price!" shouted Orochimaru as two minions came into the room and grabbed Naruto. A few made clones of themselves and blocked everyone else. Naruto was in shock, not sure what was going on. Naruto felt the two masked people holding his arms down, forcing him to go on his hands and knees. Orochimaru reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a black revolver and pointed it into his skull.

Naruto stared at the gun with wide eyes. He wasn't able to hear what everyone was screaming out at him as Orochimaru leaned in close. "Ya know, I think I'm getting a bit of déjà vu right now. This whole scenario… You, on your knees… me, with a gun to your head. Who knew that I would find joy in this moment twice." He just looked up at Orochimaru with fear in his eyes, the dun dug a little deeper into his forehead. Smirking, he leaned forward as he whispered "this makes me think of your father Naruto, about how I killed him… I shot his brains out and right now… you look just like him."

Naruto's eyes widened more. All fear disappeared from his eyes as he stared at the snake man. Everything started to slow down for him. Everything started to take place within his mind. How Orochimaru had this evil air around him… how his father always told him to stay away from the snake. How Orochimaru told Naruto to wait outside of the building just moments before he was attacked… and how he knew that his father was dead before anyone else.

It was him… _Orochimaru killed his father!_

Eyes flashing red, Naruto screamed out in rage. Orochimaru flew back, and the men had fallen over from the burst of energy flowing through Naruto in a bright red light. Everyone was in complete and utter shock at what had just taken place before them. When the light faded, standing there was Naruto with a weird light surrounding him. No, they knew what it was… it was chakra. Bright red chakra framing his body in the shape of a fox. Chakra shaped ears atop of his head and nine tails whipping out behind him.

Screaming once more, Naruto jumped and grabbed Orochimaru and pinned him to the wall. "You bastard! You've been lying to them all these years! You made me believe that I killed him! Tell them! Tell them the fucking truth before I rip your fucking throat out!" shouted an enraged Naruto, his hair long glowing bright red once again, all of his blonde strands had been dyed a deep crimson, showing that he was using the power of Kurama.

Orochimaru gaged for a moment with Naruto's hand wrapped around his wind pipe. Though, when Naruto loosened his grip for a moment, Orochimaru said "fine, fine Naruto… I killed Minato Namikaze, and I'll kill you next!" Orochimaru kicked him off, one of the men that was behind Naruto swung a kunai in his hand at Naruto hoping to slice his head off. Though, all it did was cut off most of his ponytail. Now, his hair reached his shoulders.

Kicking the man in the stomach, Naruto turned to face Orochimaru as he said "it's on Orochimaru! Today, I'm taking back my father's company!"


	13. Battle

_This was it, the big battle. The battle that separated the men from the boys… I was going to beat Orochimaru and take back my father's company. This company belonged to those with Namikaze blood, not Orochimaru. This was it… time to regain my heritage and nothing was going to stop me. Unless my heart is consumed by the very power I am using to beat Orochimaru…_

The battle was on; it was as simple as that. Hinata, Sasuke and Sakura all went to fight. As did Kushina. They were all going to fight for this company, though Naruto he only wanted to fight Orochimaru. And he was going to make sure that he won. After all, at this very moment his rage was fueling him, giving him the desire to fight for the first time in his life… he wanted revenge.

_"Naruto, don't rely on anger and hatred, you'll be consumed by darkness." _ came Kurama's voice, trying to get Naruto to calm down. Though, the crimson eyed man just ignored that and followed Orochimaru out of the room and up the stairs. He was going to finish this battle no matter what.

And nothing was going to stop him no matter what.

"Get back here Orochimaru and fight me like a man!" shouted Naruto. The red chakra around him glowed with his bubbling anger and rage, his eyes red as crimson with his pupils looking like a snakes. His nails grew and sharpened into sharp claws. Then, there were his canines growing out into fangs. The whisker marks on his face thickened on his face, making him look more like a monster than he should have. But, that was the power of Kurama for ya.

Orochimaru though he kept on running. Naruto figured it was because he was afraid… well; the old man had a right to be afraid that was for sure. He deserved to suffer for what he had done. The snake bastard was going to die and he was going to make sure of it.

As soon as they arrived onto the roof, Naruto saw the white skinned man at the ledge. A sure sign that he hadn't expected to run this far out. Though for Naruto, it was only that much easier for his revenge. "Do you see Orochimaru… this is your end. You'll die here for the death of my father." Said Naruto in a strangely calm tone of voice that would send chills up your spine.

Turning around, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at the glowing Naruto before he pulled out his gun and shot at him. The bullet was coming so fast that no normal human could dodge the bullet in time. Though as for Naruto he just stared down at the bullet as if it was nothing. Was he crazy or did he have a plan up his sleeve? That no one could be sure the way he was staring down at the bullet as it closed in on him. Slowly, Naruto lifted his hand as the bullet was only centimeters from his chest… and swat the bullet causing it to hit the ground below him instead. "I'm more powerful than ever Orochimaru." Said Naruto with a glare. "No matter what you cannot beat me."

Orochimaru glared before tossing his gun aside and charged at Naruto with his fist held up high. Naruto growled and just stood there. Bracing himself for a hit that wouldn't even hurt him. When Orochimaru threw the first punch, Naruto easily caught it in his clawed hand. "I'm going to break you." He started, slowly starting to crush the pale skinned man's hand. "Like a kit-kat bar." He finished.

"What?!"

Naruto threw his arm upward, bringing Orochimaru with him before throwing him onto the ground. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes before pushing himself back up and charged once more. Both of them started to get serious in this battle. Throwing kicks, throwing punches. Naruto's chakra though protected him from most of the blows that would have caused him some serious damage.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes as he stared at his knuckles, burned from chakra burns. Damn… Naruto on the other hand barely looked scratched. His chakra kept healing him from all damage. It was almost as if Naruto was invincible to most people.

"So Naruto, you allow that chakra to help you huh? Depend on it too much and you'll lose control over yourself. And you'll be just like me." taunted Orochimaru.

"Shut up!" shouted Naruto as he charged and threw his own punch, then he kicked the snake man under his chin to send him flying. There was no way that he was going to be like him! There was no way, he had a good heart and he was going to stay that way no matter what! Growling the young man jumped up into the air doing a few flips to build up momentum and slamming his heel into Orochimaru's stomach. The pale skinned man slammed into the ground wheezing in pain.

Stretching out his chakra arm, Naruto grabbed Orochimaru and lifted him into the air, spinning around quickly to make sure that the snake felt the worst kind of pain that anyone could ever feel. He was going to make sure that he pays! _With his life!_

Naruto's eyes went a deeper crimson; he was going to make sure that Orochimaru dies here today. By his own hands! "Do it Naruto… kill me, and you'll be just like me." He said with a laugh. Naruto stared at him for a moment, as if he was try to figure out what Orochimaru was going to do from those words. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto growled and grabbed the black haired man by his shirt.

"I will never be like you." He said with a growl.

"You may want to ignore that Naruto… but no matter what you cannot fight it. You can't beat the powers of the nine tailed fox within you. He'll control you so long as you have hatred in your heart." He said with a laugh.

Growling, Naruto threw him into the air and created red rasengan in his palm and jumped after Orochimaru. Only then, to create shadow clones without the need for the hand sign. It was as if his chakra was alive now, doing what his mind willed for it to do. "Shut up Orochimaru!" shouted Naruto before he slammed the rasengan into the man's chest. There was nothing but a blinding light.

Before they knew it, both Naruto and Orochimaru were on the ground. Well, so to speak, still on the roof of the building. Naruto stood over Orochimaru as he said "no matter what you say Orochimaru… I will never be like you no matter what…" Orochimaru just laughed.

"Don't you get it, the more anger you feel Naruto… the closer you are to darkness to the point of no return! Just look at yourself!"

Frowning, Naruto looked down and was in shock, for the cloak was clinging to Naruto, turning his skin red and black as if he was bleeding all over. But how? That shouldn't be possible! Shaking his head, Naruto growled out "if I kill you maybe I can stop it!" He shouted, flexing his claws and got ready to finish the job.

"Stop!" shouted a new voice, causing Naruto to turn around and saw Hinata rushing toward them. Damn it why was she here?!

"You should be down stairs Hinata." Naruto said, his voice sounding a little darker than it normally was. It was enough to give himself chills from the sound of it. He backed away from Hinata, though kept close to Orochimaru to finish him off. This was his only chance to kill him; to get revenge for his father… it was the only way to redeem himself!

"I came up here to help you. I can't let you kill him Naruto! If you kill Orochimaru it would make you no better than he is! Please don't do it!" shouted Hinata, tears pooling in her lavender coloured eyes. Growling, Naruto wanted to kill… he wanted to feel blood on his hands. He wanted to feel the thrill of killing… though, the more he thought of it the more it did indeed scare him.

Grabbing his head, Naruto backed away from Orochimaru trying to get those thoughts out of his head. "I… I had almost killed… damn it… I… I never wanted to be like him! Not ever!" shouted Naruto, trying hard to stop those thoughts in his mind The thought of killing had been so inviting… but when Hinata had pointed it out… the only person he had really trusted his whole life… it made so much more sense. Was it because he loved her so much?

"You can't do it…" smirked Orochimaru before he pushed himself up and laughed to himself. "That will cost you Naruto!" shouted Orochimaru as he grabbed Hinata's wrist and threw her to the edge of the roof.

"Hinata!" shouted Naruto as he charged to the edge of the building. Hinata was just about to fall over the building, he skid on the roof and grabbed Hinata's wrist. Groaning, he tried to hold on as tightly as he could. He dug his tails into the roof to prevent himself from falling off the roof. Taking a deep breath, Naruto stared at Hinata with wide eyes, his eyes building up with tears. "Hold on Hinata, I won't let you fall. I love you too much to let you go!"

Hinata looked up at Naruto with tears in her own eyes. Not of fear of him, but fear for him. "Naruto… are you… still angry?"

"I'm angry that I allowed this to happen to you… but I love you too much to think about that anger." He whispered with a soft smile on his face before pulling her to the roof. And her landing on his chest as he sighed softly. Looking behind him, Naruto's eyes were wide when he saw Orochimaru coming toward him. Yelping, he rolled out of the way.

"Die Naruto!" shouted the snake man before Naruto had rolled away; his foot got caught in one of the holes that Naruto's tails had created. When he tripped, Orochimaru fell over the building and screamed. Eyes widening, Naruto was surprised that the holes his tails made had saved them. That was amazing, that was for sure. Gulping, the young man pulled himself and Hinata to their feet and looked over the roof. Being careful not to fall over and have the same fate as Orochimaru.

When they saw what was left of Orochimaru, they were very surprised. Gulping, he saw that the snake had flattened into a pancake. His skin had holes in it from the compact and his organs and blood had poured out of it. That was enough to make him sick. Shaking his head, Naruto pulled Hinata and himself away from the edge of the building, the red chakra faded.

His nails, teeth, eyes and hair returned to normal. Taking a deep breath, Naruto looked down at Hinata as he whispered "thanks for stopping me Hinata. If I had killed him… I would have been no better like him…" He smiled a little bit before he started to walk away from the roof with Hinata and started to walk on down the stairs.

As they walked down the stairs, Naruto tried to think on what had happened… he had been so full of anger and rage that he had been blinded by what he was really doing. He almost killed someone and that was something he never wanted to do.

"Naruto!" shouted a new voice; causing Naruto to look up for running up the stairs was Kushina, Sasuke, and Sakura. Staring with wide eyes, they all tackled him in a hug. Naruto just stared at them all not really sure what they could do but he couldn't help but laugh softly. For the first time, Naruto was happy to be held… Well, not including with Hinata of course, she was a different kind of joy all together.

"Naruto, I'm so happy that you're okay." Whispered Kushina with a smile, tears staining her face. Naruto kissed his mother's forehead before they all stood up on their feet.

"I'm sorry mom… if I didn't run away this wouldn't have happened." Said Naruto…

"It's alright sweetie. You thought what you thought…" She said with a smile before ruffling his hair. "Also, you're cutting your hair some more." Naruto laughed softly at that before he spent the rest of the day with his family.

For today, it was finally over… the nightmare was over and they had a bright future ahead of them.


	14. Names, Important for Last Chapter

okay, I'm having trouble thinking up of a good name or I should say pick a good name for Naruto's daughter, yes he'll have a girl just like in the second movie of Lion King, these are the names I've picked and what they mean.

Narumi meaning Growing beauty

Reika meaning Lovely Petal

Tsukiko meaning Moon Child

Yumi meaning Beautiful

Yumiko meaning Helpful Beautiful Child

Kiyomi meaning Pure Beauty

Kiyo meaning Purity

Kazumi meaning Beautiful Harmony

Kei meaning Joyful

Keiko meaning Blessed Child

Hisaye meaning Eternal Blessing

Hitome meaning Beautiful virtue; pupil of the eye

Hikaru meaning Light; ray of light

Hazuki meaning leaf and moon

Emi meaning Blessed with Beauty

Akemi meaning Bright and Beautiful; red beauty

Amami meaning Beautiful Sky


	15. Happy

**The name has been decided with the added votes of my fanfiction account and my deviantart account...**

**_Well, there isn't really much to say about my life now. I have the woman of my dreams and we're going to spend the rest of our lives together. For this part of my story… I'll be writing down my favorite memories of the last few years that I've spend with Hinata… and the little bundle of joy that we both have been given._**

_iNaruto took a deep breath; his hair has been freshly cut as of… two weeks ago. He had promised Hinata that he would cut it even if she didn't ask for him to cut it. He wanted too, since there was no reason to grow out his hair anymore. Smiling, Naruto took a deep to calm his nerves. He was just so excited, for today was the day that he was going to marry Hinata._

_When the wedding was coming up within a week they decided to use that week to see just how much they truly loved each other. They weren't to be in contact with each other in the least, no texting, no emails, no nothing._

_And to Naruto that was just plain torcher and torment. He wasn't sure if he could survive this last week at all. It was just unbearable to him to have to go through that week without Hinata in his life… his little sunshine. Smiling gently, he took a deep breath and looked up at the sky, since they had decided to have a nice outdoor wedding for this wonderful moment of their love._

_Taking a deep breath, Naruto had one last thing up his sleeve for Hinata after they said their vows. He couldn't help but feel giddy at the very thought of how Hinata would react when he did his little surprise._

_Looking down the aisle, Naruto couldn't help but smile a bit when he saw the white limo come up just at the end of the isle. Naruto couldn't help but wonder what he was going to see. There was no telling what Hinata would look like in the dress… it had to be beautiful like her. Would she be even more beautiful than she already was or would she look the same? Oh how he just couldn't wait in the least._

_When Hinata emerged from the limo, his heart almost burst out of his chest. Her dress was the purest of whites. Long white gloves that reached passed her elbows and the dress just went up to her breasts, with spaghetti straps, the dress clung to her curves perfectly. Around her stomach reaching up to her chest were glass beads that formed lilies with petals dancing upward and downward. Though below her waist the glass beads were replaced with silver stitching of the petals moving downward around and landing just at the hem of the dress as it gracefully reached the floor. He could faintly make out the sounds of heels clicking on the ground beneath her. Atop of her head was a beautiful veil, it wasn't white like her dress no; it was lavender, hiding her face from his view as it reached her neck. Looking up at her hair, he saw that it was pinned up, two locks of her hair hung at the sides of her face framing it perfectly. The hair that had been pinned back was braided with flower petals, he figured from a cherry tree._

_Right now at this very moment Naruto didn't think that Hinata could get any more beautiful than she already was._

_Taking a deep breath, the young man watched as Hinata was walking toward him, her movements were slow but graceful. She held a beautiful bouquet of red roses that were wrapped around in white ribbon. It was something that made Naruto wonder why she picked roses. Was it because the Uzumaki's main colour was red? Because it means love? He couldn't really say but what he does know is that Hinata was beautiful with, or without the roses._

_Naruto couldn't help but smile at Hinata as he gently took her hand in his. "You're beautiful." Said Naruto with a gentle and loving smile. Hinata blushed softly through her veil; guess red can be seen through lavender. He chuckled softly before turning to the priest that stood before him. The man was going through how they were all gathered here to witness the union of Naruto and of course Hinata. It was a nice ceremony that was for sure, and of course when they got to the vows, Naruto had listened to what Hinata had to say… and he couldn't help but blush softly at her words._

_"Naruto, when we were kids… I've always cared for you. More so than 'just friends' but as something more. When I first found out that we were engaged to be married I was over joyed but, when you rejected the idea it broke my heart." She had begun; Naruto couldn't help but frown at those words. He had been a little insensitive about that… Not caring about Hinata's words. "When we all thought that you had died with your father, my heart broke into pieces like glass. I felt so alone and afraid… I thought I would never be happy again. Until I was sent to find a singer… only for it to be you." She smiled gently at Naruto after that, Naruto blushed a little bit. "When I saw that you were alive, I felt my heart piece itself together again. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, so long as you'll have me Naru-kun."_

_Nodding, Naruto whispered "I'll always want you in my life Hina-chan." He smiled softly before he started to go with his vows. Taking a deep breath he began. "Hinata, when we were kids I never thought that we would be more than friends. Though, I did enjoy all of our time together believe it." Taking a deep breath, he stared at Hinata and smiled gently at her. "When I was gone, all I could think about was you. I kept thinking and thinking about how you were. If you gave your bright smile for someone else and felt nothing but pain in my heart." Scratching the back of his head as he said "well… um… when you came to find me, I was surprised how beautiful… no I mean how much more beautiful you became. I knew you were cute as a little girl, but as a woman you became beautiful and… and I want to be with you forever Hinata. I can't think of how my life would be like if you weren't in my life. With you in my life, everything is so much brighter and full of life… I love you Hinata."_

_After their vows, the priest went on with the ceremony as he said "do you, Naruto Uzumaki take Hinata Hyuuga to be your wife?"_

_"Believe it."_

_"Do you Hinata Hyuuga; take Naruto Uzumaki to be your husband?"_

_"Yes."_

_"You may kiss the bride."_

_Naruto grinned before gently pushing Hinata's veil over her head, pulling her close as he kissed her gently. This was a moment that Naruto knew he would enjoy for the rest of his life. But, there was still one last thing that he had to do for their wedding to make it perfect._

_After they managed to have a nice dinner, Naruto grabbed Sakura and Sasuke for one last thing to help end the night. His gift to Hinata. Once he was on stage Naruto already had his guitar strap over his shoulder and smiled. "Hey everyone, the groom here. I'd like to do one thing as Oturan Umaki, and sing again as Naruto Uzumaki. Hinata, this is for my beautiful blushing bride." With that said, Naruto started to strum the strings on his guitar._

_Come stop your crying,  
It'll be all right  
Just take my hand  
Hold it tight  
I will protect you  
From all around you  
I will be here don't you cry_

_Naruto smiled gently at Hinata, this day was their day that was for sure. And he wanted it to mean the world to her as much as it was to him. Jumping off the stage, Naruto walked down the aisle toward his wife and kept his smile in place._

_For one so small  
You seem so strong  
My arms will hold you  
Keep you safe and warm  
This bond between us  
Can't be broken  
I will be here  
Don't you cry_

_Sasuke and Sakura soon started to play with Naruto. The blonde haired man walked up to Hinata and gave her a warm and loving smile. Hinata's face was a soft blush, and Naruto knew that she already loved this song. Not that he couldn't blame her, this was a song that resided in his heart._

_'Cause you'll be in my heart  
Yes, you'll be in my heart  
From this day on  
Now and forever more  
You'll be in my heart  
No matter what they say  
You'll be here in my heart...  
...Always_

_Kissing her cheek gently, Naruto pulled away and started to walk to the stage backward, keeping his eyes locked with hers as he moved away. Hinata, she just smiled at him, he knew that she loved the song so much, before he knew it everyone was staring at him as he played._

_Why can't they understand  
The way we feel  
They just don't trust  
What they can't explain  
I know we're different  
But deep inside us  
We're not that different at all_

_Though, as he played the song, Naruto wondered how his father would feel. This was something his father and Hiashi wanted for so long. For him and Hinata to get married and now that it had happened… it seemed sad that Minato wasn't here to see it. Though, Naruto knew that with just his mother there… it would still be okay._

_And you'll be in my heart  
Yes you'll be in my heart  
From this day on  
Now and forever more_

_Staring at his wife, Hinata gave him a soft and gentle smile, her beautiful lavender coloured eyes sparkled with love, love that sometimes made Naruto think that he didn't deserve it. After all, he hadn't felt any love for her, not true love until he saw her after being apart for so long. Did that make him a bad person? He couldn't really say for sure though, what he did know was that he'll make up for that with the rest of their lives._

_Don't listen to them  
'Cause what do they know  
We need each other  
To have, to hold  
They'll see in time  
I know_

_Blinking slowly, Naruto thought that he saw something in the back… Looking up further from his wife, Naruto saw someone that he didn't expect to see. His body wasn't solid like everyone else's. It was as if he wasn't really there, but at the same time, he was… but, how could that be?_

_When destiny calls you  
You must be strong  
I may not be with you  
But you got to hold on  
They'll see in time  
I know  
We'll show them together!_

_Standing in the back was Minato. His blonde hair free of blood as was his suit… the one he died in. Minato had a big grin on his face, one full of pride, love and joy. Was he here just to see Naruto be married? But… that couldn't be possible… spirits aren't to come here are they? Sure Naruto saw his father once before saving the company but… hadn't that been an illusion that was in his heart?_

_'Cause you'll be in my heart (Believe me)  
You'll be in my heart (I'll be there)  
From this day on  
Now and forever more  
You'll be in my heart (you'll be here in my heart)  
You'll be in my heart (I'll be there)  
From this day on  
Now and forever more  
You'll be in my heart_

_Even though Minato wasn't near him, Naruto could still hear his words as if they echoed through his very heart. "I'm so proud of you Naruto. You are a great man… as I had hoped you would become. Don't forget Naruto, you are only as strong as your heart is. Do not forget to protect those dear to you… remember."_

_Always!  
I'll be with you!  
I'll be there for you always  
Always and always  
Just look over your shoulder  
I will be there_

_Once the song was over, Naruto couldn't help but stare in shock. His father's ghost had disappeared with a bright smile… The whole time, Naruto had thought that his father wouldn't want to see him but… Minato had been proud of him the whole time. Giving a smile, Naruto knew that today had been the best day of his life._

* * *

_Naruto was sitting in the waiting room, trying to think on what was wrong with his wife. For the past couple months, she had been sick to her stomach among other things. Shaking his head, the young man leaned his head back and took a deep breath. Trying to think on what could be wrong with Hinata. He kept on thinking that there was something horribly wrong with her, maybe she was dying!_

_"Dear god don't let it be that." Whimpered Naruto as he sank in his seat a little bit._

_Taking a deep breath, Naruto tried to think on what he would to do if he ever lost Hinata. He didn't think that he could handle that, there was no way that he could handle losing Hinata; he would go crazy if that had happened. Suddenly, the door opened and walked out was his wife. Jumping to his feet, Naruto rushed to Hinata and held her in his arms and stared at her with worry and concern. "Hinata, are you okay? What's wrong?"_

_Hinata smiled, okay this confused Naruto. Why would she be smiling? Was there some good news about puking?_

_Hinata kissed Naruto's cheek as she said "I'm pregnant." Naruto just stared at her for a moment. AS if trying to figure out what she had just said. Hinata… was pregnant? With their baby? He was going to be a father? Naruto did the only thing that fits this scenario…_

_"Naruto?!"_

_He fainted with a big grin on his face._

_Naruto had spent the next few months getting the baby room made. Though, he wasn't sure what to paint the walls so he had thought that for now they'd stick to have yellow for the walls since yellow was for both genders. Smiling, Naruto couldn't help but smile, he was going to be a daddy! Chuckling to himself, the young man walked out of the room and tilted his head when he saw Hinata waddling down the hall._

_Giving a gentle smile, Naruto walked over to his wife and held her in his arms. "How are you two doing?" He asked gently, kissing Hinata then bending down and kissing her large belly with a loving smile. They had found out that they were going to have a daughter, though sadly they hadn't picked a name yet. It just seemed that every name they thought up didn't seem to suit their daughter._

_So, Naruto had decided to name their daughter when she was born, maybe the name would just come to them. That was all he could think up of at the moment._

_But, what he did know was that his wife and future daughter would be protected at all times. Nothing was going to hurt either of them. Not so long as he was around that was for sure. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at his wife, his hand gently rubbing her belly._

_"We're fine Naru-kun, just going to get something to eat." She said with a smile._

_Pushing himself to stand on his feet, Naruto wrapped his arm around Hinata's shoulders as he said "let me Hinata. I'll cook you whatever you want." He chuckled though when Hinata told him that she wanted pork ramen. Ever since she was pregnant, she has had a large craving for ramen. Large enough to rival his own and that was saying something._

_"I'd also like some pickles to go with them today." Hinata said with a bright smile, Naruto of course smiled in return as he also grabbed some pickles for her ramen. Though, he knew that this was only the beginning of their perfect lives. For life could only get all the sweeter when their daughter arrived._

_Before he knew it, Naruto was in the hospital once more. Hinata had gone into early labor and rushed to the hospital. Sighing softly, the blonde haired man wondered if this was how his father felt when his mother had gone into labor. He bet that his father was panicking. Sighing, Naruto looked at the doors, wondering if his wife would be okay… and what of their daughter? There were so many things that went through his mind. Was she going to make it through this? Was their daughter going to be healthy? Dear lord he hoped so, there was no way that either of them could handle losing their child. It would break their hearts._

_Taking a deep breath, Naruto pushed himself up onto his feet and started to walk back and forth in the waiting room. Hoping that would help calm him down, or at least to get his mind off of the worry he was having over his wife._

_"Mr. Uzumaki?" said a nurse that came into the waiting room._

_"Yeah?"_

_"Congratulations, you have a beautiful daughter. You may go and see her and your wife."_

_Without having to be told twice, Naruto pushed himself through the doors and ran down the hall. He had to make sure that he sees them. He had to see his two girls. When Naruto walked to Hinata's room, he heard the sounds of cooing, and a soft hum. Smiling, the young man walked into the room and looked over at Hinata. Wearing a hospital gown holding a little pink bundle in her arms._

_"Hi Naru-kun… wanna see your daughter?" whispered Hinata with a smile._

_"Y-Yeah…" he said with a bit of nervousness. He was a little scared of scaring his daughter, with the scar and everything. Taking a few steps forward, Naruto looked over Hinata's arms and looking at the sleeping face of their daughter. She had Naruto's skin tone, Hinata's looks, and blonde hair with blue tips… Though, it made Naruto wonder if she had his eye colouring or Hinata's…_

_"She has my eyes." She said with a soft smile. Naruto had to smile at that, it seemed that she was a perfect mixture of the both of them… now all they had to do was come up with a name for her. Looking at his daughter, Naruto tried to think of a perfect name… frowning, he stared at Hinata as if asking if he could hold her… "Go on Naruto…" She said, gently handing her husband their little girl. Naruto blushed softly, holding such a small and frail baby like their daughter._

_Though, from the movement, she opened her eyes revealing that Hinata had been right. She had her mother's eyes. She looked up at her father and gave a little squeak before gurgling happily. The happy father smiled gently at his daughter as he said "how about Kazumi?"_

_"Yeah… I like that…"_

"Naruto are you done writing that book?" asked a woman's voice.

Blinking, a blonde haired man turned around in his chair and looked up at a curvy woman with long blue hair. She wore a lavender coloured dress, possibly because it was such a nice day outside today. Her lavender eyes sparkled with joy, love, and happiness. The man couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I'm done Hinata. Least, I finished most of it." He stretched before pulling his glasses off of his face and set them on the table.

Naruto didn't change all that much in a few years. His hair was a little longer, just past his shoulders again though he'll get it cut. His eyes got a little bad to the point of needing to wear glasses for reading, writing, or using a computer. Otherwise, they were fine. His blue eyes sparkled in love as he stared at his wife. "So, how is our little girl?"

"Daddy!"

Blinking, Naruto looked at where Hinata stood and saw a little girl running straight to him before jumping into his arms. Laughing, Naruto held the little girl in his arms as he said "how's my little princess?" Kazumi had changed a little bit. Only at three years old, her hair had grown up to her shoulders, still blonde like her father's but with blue tips. Her eyes shined with innocents and child-like happiness.

She wore a pink shirt with a kitten's face, and jean overalls dress. Kazumi was such a beautiful little girl that Naruto became like any other father. He was over protective of his daughter as much as his wife. But knew that Hinata could easily protect herself. "Daddy, tell me a story? About grandpa."

Naruto smiled a bit before he sat back down on his work chair. Hinata giggled, telling them that she'll get them when dinner was ready. Meanwhile, Naruto leaned back in his chair, his orange muscle shirt a little loose on him, as were his black shorts but he was indoors so who cares? Taking a deep breath, he said "well Kazumi, your grandfather was a great man. He thought of this company as a family…"

Naruto though, had a feeling that this story was far from being over for him.


End file.
